Tag Archives: workshops

Catching up

A Balanced Life, , ,

It’s been a while since the last post here. Catching up on the last couple of months may take some time!

emotions and artWorkshops

It has been wonderful to have participants from the Art Therapy workshops continue each term, regardless of whether the workshop is during the day or late evening.  Sometimes it’s been a challenge to create activities to build on their previous sessions, as well as engaging the new participants! Often lots of laughter when those “ah-ha” moments and insights happen!

Another workshop I’ve been delivering is a pre-learning  program for people with lived experience of mental health challenges. The participants are often interested in “paying it forward” to become Peer Support workers. This program can be challenging due to the sensitive nature of issues disclosed by participants, but I’m fortunate in that I have a wise and caring supervisor  that I can de-brief to when necessary.

At one stage I contemplated applying for a position teaching the advanced program with an accredited organization and actually sent off a resume. That certainly triggered my own issues with returning to a formal education setting and I subsequently withdrew the application.

The Retreat

It’s a decade or slightly more, since the retreat was acquired and I’m pleased to say that it is still organically maintained. Annual mowing of the larger paddock has created better soil moisture as the grass, when slashed, is left as mulch. In turn, this helps to smother some of the weeds. Having not being able to travel there during the lock downs has meant that a different set of weeds popped up and these are being removed by digging them out as they appear.  More planting of trees and shrubs, both deciduous and native has happened. The wildlife has kindly spared the salt bush plantings, although the resident Swamp Wallaby has taken a liking to pruning my pots of peppermint and geraniums.

The labyrinths have fallen into disrepair and a decision has to be made whether to refurbish them or to restore the areas to how they were before.

Refurbishment for the larger 7 ring Cretan labyrinth would mean a lot of digging to redefine the paths and restoration would mean removing the stones and jonquil bulbs from one of the rings.

Don’t forget the sunscreen!

Health wise, a seemingly innocuous spot on the face turned out that it wasn’t due to the aging process and needed to be removed. Dressings on the wound made it very obvious that I’d had a procedure done and although I was very self conscious about it, was able to encourage others to get  regular skin checks. A couple of setbacks with infections of the wound site -a closed eye and bruising is never a good look! People assume all sorts of other scenarios. Fortunately, all is good now and the experience and process has been an invaluable learning experience.

Term 4 workshops

A Balanced Life, balance,

These term 4  workshops will be held at Coonara Community House and are subject to confirmation by Coonara dependent on numbers enrolling. Please book directly with  Coonara.

Art Therapy – 4 sessions

  • Wednesdays 9.30am-11.30am October 18th – November 8th
  • Tuesdays 6.30pm – 8.30pm       November 14th- December 5th

Working in Community  Services – 6  sessions

  •  Thursdays  930am- 12.30pm November 2nd   – December 7th

Understanding Resilience – online – 1 session

  • Wednesday November 22nd- 6.30pm – 8.30pm

Stress  to Strength – 1 session

  • Wednesday November 29th – 6.30pm -8.30pm

Your Best Year Yet –  1  session

  • Thursday 7th December – 9.30am – 12.30pm

 

A week of workshops

A Balanced Life, , , , ,

It’s been a week of workshops! Three this week: the first being a continuation of a series of workshops covering Mental Health. This week we looked at what is recovery from a mental health issue and frameworks that can be used to help someone on their journey to recovery. We explored a range of resources that can be of use to people with lived experience of mental health issues and those caring for them.

The second workshop was an Art Therapy workshop – continuing the theme of growth as Spring is just around the corner.

Each participant was given an outline of the circles and we did a short, but deep meditation based on the significance of the circle in all cultures and traditions. It was really interesting to see the diversity of designs that the participants created, the colours used and the insights that they shared with each other at the end of the session.

The third workshop for the week was about Resilience. Using Emotional Intelligence frameworks we explored personal experiences of resilience and strategies to build the resilience “muscle”. We talked about the role of self care in building resilience and about being creative – such as creating a Gratitude Journal or Gratitude Jar.

 

Person Centred Workshops

The Art of Stress Management, Workshops, , ,

At Balance4Life Programs I take a person-centred approach to workshops. This is an approach that prioritizes the needs, perspectives and lived experience of the participants in designing and delivering the workshop. This means that each workshop series is different to previously delivered workshops.

By recognizing that every participant is unique, with their own experiences, values, and preferences, I seek to create a supportive and non-judgmental environment where each participant can feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings.

Workshops at Balance4Life programs include:
Tailoring content

Rather than presenting a generic workshop, a person-centred approach involves designing the content of the workshop based on the specific needs and goals of the participants.

This may involve conducting a Social + Emotional Intelligence assessment or learning style assessment prior to the workshop to identify the areas of focus that would be most relevant and meaningful to the participants. Content is regularly reviewed to enable all participants to have a positive learning experience.

Encouraging participation

A person-centred approach encourages active participation and engagement from the participants, rather than a passive learning experience. This can involve incorporating activities, discussions, and exercises that allow participants to share their own experiences and perspectives, and to learn from each other.

Creating a safe space

To facilitate open and honest communication, it’s important to create a safe and supportive environment in the workshop. This can involve establishing ground rules for respectful communication, providing opportunities for confidentiality, and acknowledging and validating participants’ feelings and experiences.

Being flexible

A person-centred approach recognizes that participants may have different learning styles, preferences, and needs, and seeks to be flexible in accommodating these differences. This can involve providing multiple options for activities or exercises, or adapting the pace or structure of the workshop based on feedback from participants.

Overall, a person-centred approach to workshops is beneficial in creating an inclusive, supportive, and empowering learning experience for participants. By prioritizing the needs and perspectives of the participants, each workshop can be tailored to meet their unique needs and goals, and facilitate their personal and professional growth.

 

Art Therapy Workshops

A Balanced Life, Art Therapy, , , ,

The past few months I have had the opportunity to be presenting lots of workshops, including Art Therapy workshops to a variety of organizations and audiences. The Art Therapy workshops have been face to face, whilst the Emotional Intelligence workshops have either been online or hybrid.

For participants in a group Art Therapy Workshop it can be challenging to know just how much to “share”. At each session I set the boundaries – what is said in the room, stays in the room  and only share if comfortable. Some of the activities are designed to encourage mindfulness.

One activity that springs to mind is “Going Dotty”.  This is a nod to the artistic works of Georges Seurat who created amazing masterpieces using pointillism. My own example of a sunflower shows how solid colour is not necessary to create an image. Taking the time to create it  kept me “in the moment” or mindful.

After it was finished I took some time on reflecting why I chose to create that image. It reminded me of the time I flew across the country  to have a last visit with my mother in hospital. During a break I went to the local shops and there were buckets of sunflowers. I bought a bunch, took it back to the hospital and used them as a focus for a meditation and Reiki session. Something shifted, as my mother recovered and we were able to have a conversation and another visit a year or so later.