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Home > Training, Development + Consulting > Training + Development Programs

Training + Development
Programs

We offer a variety of workshops and programs to develop the skills, knowledge and competence required for building and sustaining a healthy and productive workplace. Where appropriate, we will tailor programs to meet specific organizational needs, as well as conference-style presentations for small and large group development.

To support individual and team development, we deliver a variety of assessment and diagnostic tools to build understanding and to identify underlying issues, including the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), FIRO-B, Emotional Intelligence Inventory, Leadership Practices Inventory and the Lifestyle Scale Inventory.

We also provide a coaching service to support individuals in their efforts to become more effective in the workplace, whether they are executives, managers, or non-supervisory employees.

The programs and services outlined in this site are only a sample of what the team provides, to businesses, government departments and specialized audiences. For more information on any of these workshops or their instructors, please contact our office at (613) 737-5553.

Keynote Addresses

Leadership Development
: Leadership Workshops
: Leadership Dialogues
: Leadership Conferences

Skills for a Healthy Workplace
: Communication
: Conflict Resolution
: Humour and Balance
: Team Development

Specialized Audiences
: Educators
: Dental Practice Teams
: Child Welfare
: Parents
> Children
> Teens

Leadership Development

Leadership is about building relationships in the workplace. Our consultants present workshops that contain leadership concepts, which offer new insights, new skills and new frameworks for thinking about yourself and your role as leader in the workplace. Our workshops are customized to present you with real options for the challenges you face in your workplace.

Research makes clear that quality leadership matters.

Organizations with good leaders outperform others on almost every measure of performance and workplace health, including productivity, turnover, customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and profit and market share.
Leaders throughout an organization make or break innovation and change efforts.
Good leaders are the key: they outpace bad or mediocre leaders on almost every measure of organizational health, including productivity, turnover, customer service, employee engagement, and profit and market share.

Leadership Workshops

Positive Skills for Effective Leadership

Being an effective leader/facilitator in a work setting requires strong communication skills, an optimistic perspective and the ability to set realistic priorities in an atmosphere of mutual respect and empathy. We are faced daily with many pressures and stresses related to change and the choices we must make in adapting to new directions, ideas, roles and responsibilities.

This workshop will help participants to:

Recognize your personal leadership style.
Discover the personal vulnerabilities you possess as a leader and learn to manage them more effectively.
Implement the eight principles of effective teamwork to ensure cooperative decision making.
Learn communication and problem-solving skills that are designed to create a team approach to goal setting.
Celebrate yourself as a leader and maintain your own self-esteem.

THE LANGUAGE OF AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP

Leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue. The energy, enthusiasm and passion that leaders model in their daily communications create movement and momentum towards common goals. This session will assist participants to examine how their body language, their level of energy and the use of 'we' and 'our' in interactions play a pivotal role in successful outcomes. Being understood by others and understanding others in all communications is the essence of strong leadership.

Participants will leave this workshop with:

an understanding of the value of a directive vs. responsive mode of communication,
identification of verbal and non-verbal patterns matched with helpful responses,
a model for creative collaboration in addressing differences and/or conflicts.

THE PRACTICES OF EFFECTIVE LEADERS

Effective leaders demonstrate a blend of skills that are specific and straightforward. Learn five 'best' leadership practices that will support you to handle your responsibilities as a leader in your workplace. In this workshop you will learn the five practices, measure your usage of these practices and develop strategies for building your proficiency in these practices. Take the mystery out of leadership; acquaint yourself with your leader mindset.

Participants will leave this workshop with a sense of the responsibilities of leadership through:

an understanding of the five 'best' practices of effective leaders,
a clear awareness of their current use of these practices,
new strategies to incorporate 'best' practices into their workplace leadership role.

Strong Leadership Equals Strong Teams

Leadership is a team effort. Leadership is a relationship, founded on trust and confidence which encourages team members to take risks and embrace change. This session will assist participants to examine the qualities of strong personal leadership and will offer strategies to increase ownership and commitment to a common vision.

Participants will leave this workshop with:

an understanding of how their personal approach to problem solving influences their interactions as team members,
techniques to increase self confidence in creative decision making,
a model for sustained self care that will encourage empowered decision making.

Leading and Managing for Change

Change 'management' is one of the most misleading phrases in modern business literature today. Change cannot be 'managed'. It must be led. Paradoxically, though without good management as part of the equation any change effort risks failure. What does it take to lead change effectively, and where does management come in? How do we find the right balance between the two? This session draws on research, best practice examples and participants' own experience to examine the fundamentals of successful change and how it applies to you and to your organization.

Participants will:

Examine the fundamentals of successful change
Understand the role of leadership in the process of change
Learn new ways of creating balance between leadership and management in addressing change.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SKILLS: EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION WITH CLIENTS AND STAFF

Effective communication involves both talking and listening with understanding, empathy and direction. Recognizing non-verbal cues and underlying messages in conversations can ensure clearer and a more concise information flow.

Participants will leave the workshop with:

Ways to differentiate between open and closed communication,
A recognition of the barriers and enhancers to effective communication,
Strategies to engage and encourage active participation and successful outcomes,
Application of creative interventions with difficult people in the work setting.

Leading your Life with Balance and Humour

We complain daily about the lack of time available to juggle all the tasks facing us. Applying leadership principles and skills to ourselves offers more balance and realistic expectations. Learning to laugh at ourselves and with others lowers stress and creates more positive interactions.

What participants will leave the workshop with:

Assistance in balancing multiple roles and expectations
Approaches to cope with external and internal change
How to utilize humour and fun
A roadmap to create a more healthy mental and emotional life
Ways to increase your courage to take risks
Strategies to increase appreciation and recognition of success

Coaching: Turning "Best Practices" into Action

All leaders are challenged to integrate management and leadership skills to produce effective work relationships. Coaching is one of the most powerful interpersonal strategies you can use to achieve this blend. In this session, you will learn the principles and attributes of being an effective coach, techniques to flexibly adapt to changes and challenges, while remaining balanced and proactive in your dealings.

Being Proactive in Reactive Times

Major change is one of the most frequent topics of conversation in the workplace today. Anxiety, fear, anger and focusing on the losses are our frequent responses to the present situation. How can we maintain some balance and equilibrium as we face obstacles daily? How can we model faith, hope and courage in these chaotic times?

This workshop will present ways to channel our emotions, our thoughts and our behaviours into constructive strategies to ensure active and proactive stances to sometimes impossible work and life situations.

MANAGING STRESS CREATIVELY

Stress is a fact of life. The extent to which we let stress control our actions can affect our work performance and sense of self-satisfaction. This workshop will explore techniques for managing stress and creating more balance in our daily life.

Topics for this workshop include:

Stress as Both a Positive and Negative Influence in our Lives
Personal Vulnerabilities to Stress that may lead to Distress
Evaluation of Personal Stress Levels
Specific Stress Management Strategies

Bringing Innovation to the Workplace

The need to innovate has never been more pressing, yet many organizations struggle with how to innovate effectively. How effective is your organization in supporting innovation? What are the keys to successful innovation and what can you as a leader do to encourage more innovative thinking and behaviour?

Drawing on a combination of theory, practical example and hands-on exercises, this workshop looks at key elements of successful innovation, what it means for organizations and how individuals can be, both, more innovative and encourage innovation in others.

Leading for Change

Change is the hallmark of doing business in today's environment — whether proactively as opportunities arise or reactively when change is imposed and crises hit. In the best of all possible worlds we anticipate, even precipitate, change that serves our purpose not simply respond when change becomes inevitable.

What does it take to manage change? How can we ensure that we, and those we work with, are more change-ready? This interactive workshop offers a fresh look at change, not as something to be managed but as a phenomenon to be anticipated, prepared for and even embraced.

Time Management — Handling It All?

Time management has become an oxymoron for many of us. We have taken courses and purchased our systems, but time still runs away with us. For leaders this is particularly critical. When we are tied to our desks, overwhelmed with work and spending far too much time at the office, our lives and our families suffer, as does our effectiveness as leaders.

This workshop builds on traditional approaches to time management to look at new strategies for accomplishing more of what truly matters in our days.

Leadership Dialogues

Leadership Dialogues are regularly scheduled, facilitated sessions that provide a collegial environment to learn more about key topics in leadership, teamwork and communications through informal presentations and discussions. Individual half-hour coaching conversations are available between each session to support application of Dialogue topic ideas in the workplace. Leadership Dialogues broaden participants' workplace understanding through lively interaction with their colleagues.

The first Leadership Dialogue session provides an opportunity for participants to identify their use of leadership practices. The ensuing Leadership Dialogues present specific topics, chosen by participants and facilitated by the session leader. Each Dialogue session is one-third participant feedback, one-third facilitated training and one-third application strategizing. Reading materials and/or exercises are provided and serve as preparatory background information for discussion. Participants bring their experience and opinions to the group, allowing rich, meaningful discussion. At the end of each Dialogue, participants choose an action step to apply some aspect of learning from the Dialogue within his/her workplace over the next period of time.

Discussion Topics:
Leadership Dialogues I

Best Practices of Leadership
Working with Difficult People
Positive Skills for Effective Leadership
Effective Communication in the Work Environment
The Language of Authentic Leadership
Being Proactive in Reactive Times - Coping with Change
Coaching: Turning Best Practices into Action
The Information Age-Humanizing Our Wired World
Strong Leadership Equals Strong Teams
Stress Management in the Workplace
Inspiring Teams Toward Excellence
Win/Win Strategies in the Work Environment
Team Building
Innovative Approaches to Workplace Challenges
Creative Solutions: Moving from Negative to Positive Outcomes
Effective Communication in the Work Environment
Juggling our Daily Demands Realistically

Leadership Dialogues II

Leadership and Possibility-6 Dialogues focused on the 10 Commitments of Leadership + Practices of Possibility from The Art of Possibility, R.& B. Zander

Skills for a Healthy Workplace

Communication

Effective Communication with Clients and Staff in the Work Environment

Effective communication involves both talking and listening with understanding, empathy and direction. Dissemination of information can be a complex process, often accompanied by misunderstanding and confusion. This workshop will offer the skills necessary to improve verbal and non-verbal communication, recognize how messages are transmitted and learn how to ensure clear, concise information flow in the work environment.

Participants will leave this workshop with:

Ways to differentiate between open and closed communication,
A recognition of the barriers and enhancers to effective communication,
Strategies to engage and encourage active participation and successful outcomes,
Application of creative interventions with difficult people in the work setting.

Working With Difficult People

This workshop will assist participants to explore options in dealing with problematic behaviours and to increase the “action” component of interactions. The level of responsibility that staff accepts for their own reactions, choices and decisions is an important factor in reducing conflict in the workplace.

Topics for this workshop include:

Usefulness of Behaviour
Personal Vulnerabilities
Problem Ownership
Options For Modifying Problem Behaviours
Process of Change
Encouragement

Using Emotional Intelligence to Engage Employees

Employee engagement is crucial for both the growth of companies and employees. Disengaged employees cost companies hundreds of millions of dollars. This workshop teaches participants how to use Emotional Intelligence to engage themselves, employees and colleagues. Consequently, job satisfaction, productivity and happiness are elevated.

Participants will:

Assess their EI competencies
Learn how to recognize talents and strengths
Learn how to increase employee engagement
Learn how to maintain the growth that EI brings to individuals and companies.

Humanizing the Wired World of the Information Life

In this fast-paced, wired world, is it possible to manage the emails, voice mails and urgent deadlines and still maintain constructive work relationships? This workshop will offer strategies to set priorities and boundaries around your day-to-day demands. You will discover methods to balance your life using humour and reality checks to reduce chaos and increase a sense of accomplishment and well-being.

Creative Solutions: Moving From Negative to Positive Outcomes

In a workplace, healthy solutions come through negotiation, mediation and problem solving. Frequently, conflict can develop which needs to be reframed from a negative to a positive process. This session will assist participants to discover personal triggers, personality styles and stress management strategies designed to produce win-win outcomes.

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS — THE KEY TO PERFORMANCE AND HEALTHY CHANGE

How well leaders communicate internally has a major impact on how well their organizations perform. In periods of change, effective internal communications is critical, and in times of crisis it is essential. Yet often the focus of organizations' communications efforts is external, with internal communications receiving lip service, if it is addressed at all.

In this workshop participants will examine the importance of their communications as leaders within their organizations, factors influencing success or failure of internal communications efforts, and strategies for communicating with employees in difficult times.

Building Self-esteem in Ourselves and Others

Self-esteem is based on the concept that as a person “I am lovable and capable.” Most adults have been trained to focus on negative qualities and imperfections in themselves and others. Maintaining positive self-esteem can prove to be an overwhelming task due to the multiple demands and expectations on each of us.

This workshop will focus on the “How To's” of maintaining positive attitudes and taking responsibility for creating personal well being and success.

Conflict Resolution

Co-operation vs. Confrontation in the Work Environment

This workshop will explore the skills related to creating a constructive and productive work environment from both a staff and client point of view. Skills related to building constructive, proactive relationships, and to achieving personal goals, as well as ways an individual can contribute to the atmosphere of the work environment.

Topics for this workshop include:

Recognizing Hidden Agendas
Creating Commonality to Reduce Conflict and Distance in Team
“Other” Directed vs. “I” Directed Tasks to Increase Cooperation
Encouragement vs. Criticism in all Interactions
Techniques in Building Self-Esteem of Staff and Clients

Rethinking Conflict: Creative and Proactive Approaches

Managing conflict can be a daily occurrence. Competing priorities, expectations, values and personal agendas can create conflict. Learn how your reactions help or hinder a positive outcome.

Participants will leave this workshop with:

An understanding of your personal reactions/over-reactions in conflict situations
Learn your “personal triggers” which lead to ineffective responses
Assess a situation when you were most effective in handling conflict

Transforming Conflict to Creative Collaboration

Being aware of one's conflict resolution style and its application to developing skills which are effective in a variety of conflict situations, will be the focus of this workshop.

What participants will leave the workshop with:

Assess the 5 different conflict modes most frequently utilized in responding to conflict
Understand how your personal mode can help or hinder positive outcomes
Create a personal plan outlining the strategies and skills related to other styles of handling conflict to add to your repertoire.

Humour and Balance

The Balancing Act — JUGGLING OUR DAILY DEMANDS REALISTICALLY

People complain daily about the lack of time available to juggle all the tasks facing them. We often end our day feeling tired but also guilty about what we haven’t accomplished or what we wish we had added to our already busy schedules.

Topics for this workshop include:

Recognition of our multiple roles and expectations
Ways to reduce guilt and worry and thus reduce stress
Strategies to develop an attitude of self-encouragement and self care
Ways to increase humour and fun in our daily lives

Coping Strategies In a Stressful Information Age

This workshop offers strategies to assist us with balancing our multiple roles and expectations, feeling positive about ourselves, coping with external and internal change, building courage, taking risks, asking for what we require, becoming our own advocate, utilizing humour and maintaining good mental health.

Facing Life Changes with Courage and Humour

We are faced daily with many pressures and stresses related to change and the choices we must make in adapting to new directions, ideas, roles and responsibilities. This challenge can be a growth experience if we choose a proactive stance. This workshop will address issues related to change as a process and offer strategies to help participants engage in positive approaches to dealing with a changing work environment.

Team Development

Using Emotional Intelligence to Engage Employees

Participants will:

Assess their EI competencies
Learn how to recognize talents and strengths
Learn how to increase employee engagement
Learn how to maintain the growth that EI brings to individuals and companies

Inspiring Teams Towards Excellence

Untapped potential for team performance is enormous in most organizations. Leading and managing teams is based on trust and confidence which encourages team members to take risks, strive to be their “best” and demonstrate ownership and the commitment to results oriented performance.

Participants will:

Examine the how to’s of motivating and stimulating team participation
Distinguish how management and leadership differ in facilitating teamwork
Evaluate your performance as a team player/leader
Learn the underlying principles and strategies for creating movement towards excellence.

Innovative Approaches for Workplace Challenges

The working day is filled with project deadlines, conflicting expectations and mundane chores — all normal workplace challenges. As manager/leader, your actions ensure the organization moves forward to meet its goals. This workshop looks at creative ways to bring innovation and possibility to the workplace as you and your employees navigate the demands of each work day.

Participants will:

Learn innovative ways to enhance self and employee motivation through 'possibility'
Apply ‘possibility’ practices to your workplace situations
Identify techniques to enhance creativity and performance on an individual and organizational level

Proactive Skills for Effective Team Development

This workshop examines behaviour necessary to promote significance and belonging in a work environment, thus increasing the team member’s willingness to invest personally and professionally.

Topics for this workshop include:

Motivating Through Achievement and Challenge
Responsibility and Recognition in the Work Setting
Factors that Enhance Significance and Belonging
Team Members’ Attitudes to the Work Environment
Team Members’ Expectations of Self and Others in the Work Setting

Specialized Audiences

Educators

Creating a Cohesive School Climate Through the 4 C's

This workshop will outline the 4 C's (Connect, Count, Capable and Courage), which can serve as the foundation of a cooperative, cohesive learning environment. The abilities to connect with others, to make a significant contribution, to feel capable and achieve results are the signposts of success in education for both teachers and students.

Changes, Challenges, Choices Facing Educators

Have children changed as learners? What are the qualities of the learners of today? As teachers, do you feel that you are being asked to change your teaching style? How can we operate and maintain feeling of high self esteem in the classrooms of today.

This workshop will respond to the questions outlined and assist educators to understand the stresses and pressures on classroom teachers. Constructive strategies to facilitate the learning process for both students and educators will be presented.

Building a Democratic Classroom

This workshop will focus on establishing a classroom where students are part of the decision-making process, and students accept responsibility for their behaviour as well as tasks to assist the teacher in creating a place where everyone makes a contribution.

Understanding Children's Behaviour

All children work to "belong" in their families, their classrooms and/or preschool programs, as well as with friends. They use behaviours based on their private logic which are designed to meet their needs and make sense of the world. Child logic is unlike adult logic and thereby can be confusing and frustrating to deal with in group settings. This presentation will focus on constructive approaches to redirecting children's behaviours in group settings.

Creating a 'Sense of Belonging' in Our Students

Students enter classrooms looking for a place "to belong." They will choose either positive or negative behaviors dependant upon their view of the world. As educators, our work is to assist children to contribute positively and successfully. This workshop will offer teaching strategies to ensure inclusion and constructive choices on the part of students.

Creative Approaches to Redirecting Children's Behaviour

Children learn from an early age that negative behaviour guarantees attention and involvement by adults. As parents and teachers, we need to monitor our reactions to ensure that cooperative positive behaviours are being rewarded and encouraged on a daily basis. This workshop will offer strategies to rechannel negative behaviours to positive interactions as well as methods of encouragement to increase positive feelings between children and adults.

Building Self Esteem in Ourselves and Others

Self esteem is based on the concept that as a person "I am lovable and capable". Most adults have been trained to focus on negative qualities and imperfections in themselves and others. Maintaining positive self esteem can prove to be an overwhelming task due to the multiple demands and expectations on each of us.

This workshop will focus on the how to's of maintaining positive attitudes and taking responsibility for creating personal well being and success.

Partnership Between Home and School

This presentation presents the skills necessary to create cooperation and communication between/among teachers, parents and students. Relationships based on mutual respect, accountability, common goals and encouragement can be the end product of working together as partners in education.

Bringing Out The Best In Our Children

As teachers and parents, we all wish to create a safe, strong and positive relationship with children. To ensure this we must offer messages that children are lovable and capable. This presentation will focus on strategies to assist adults and children to enjoy each other on a daily basis as well as strategies to encourage children to take ownership for their own lives, ie. clothing, toys, friends.

Working with Difficult Students

Educators are confronted by behaviours which irritate, confuse or upset them. In many school situations, the person who presents the problem does not view change as necessary and thus, the negative tensions continue. This workshop will assist participants to explore options in dealing with problematic behaviours and to increase the “action” component of office interactions. The level of responsibility others accept for their own reactions, choices and decisions is an important factor in reducing conflict in our daily lives.

Positive Approaches to Pre-Adolescents/Adolescents in School Settings

This workshop will focus on understanding and working with the developmental tasks and characteristics of the adolescent learner. This framework applied within the school system can assist teachers and administrators to feel more proactive and prepared in facing daily challenges. Strategies for motivating and influencing students will be emphasized.

Additional Topics for Presentations

Encouragement — This workshop offers a positive approach to classroom management which increases cooperation and enjoyment for learning.

Coping with Stress Constructively — This workshop assists teachers to identify sources of stress, provides clearer understanding of options/choices, coping strategies.

Teacher as Facilitator — Qualities of a democratic respectful leader will be discussed and the blocks that are present which prevent our adoption of this role model.

Redirecting Misbehaviour in the Classroom — This workshop looks at "purpose" behind negative behaviour and presents alternatives such as logical and natural consequences, encouragement, and more in coping with the misbehaving child.

Leadership Style: Reactive-Active-Proactive? — This workshop assists teachers to identify their leadership style: democratic, autocratic or laissez-faire. Issues of control, rights, respect and responsibility are discussed along with the advantages and disadvantages of each style.

Dental Practice Teams

Dental Practice Team Building

The health and productivity of a dental practice is directly connected with the self-esteem, health and personal investment of its team members.

Optimal dental care is achieved through the creation of a work atmosphere based on acceptance, cooperation, respect and self-fulfillment for both clients and team members.

The following workshops are designed to enhance the growth and development of all members of a dental team. Participants examine the significance of their personal values and motivation, the necessity of effective communication and the use of encouragement as key elements in effective work performance.

The workshops focus on the “How Tos” rather than the “Shoulds” of successful teamwork and productivity.

Effective Communication with Team and Clients in the Dental Environment

Effective communication involves both talking and listening with understanding, empathy and direction. Dissemination of information can be a complex process, often accompanied with misunderstanding and confusion. This workshop will offer the skills necessary to improve verbal and non-verbal communication, recognize how messages are transmitted and how to ensure clear, concise information flow in office interactions.

Topics of this workshop include:

Open vs. Closed Communication
Verbal vs. Non-Verbal Communication
Barriers to Communication
“Active Listening” as a Skill to Enhance Relationships
“I” Messages as a Skill in Open Communication

Motivation in the Dental Environment

This workshop examines behaviour necessary to promote significance and belonging in a dental environment, thus increasing the team member’s willingness to invest personally and professionally.

Topics of this workshop include:

Motivating through Achievement and Challenge
Responsibility and Recognition in the Work Setting
Factors that Enhance Significance and Belonging
Team Member’s Attitudes to the Work Environment
Team Member’s Expectations of Self and Others in the Work Setting

Working With Difficult People Within the Dental Environment

People are often confronted by behaviours in the workplace that irritate, confuse or upset them. In many situations, the person who presents the problem does not view change as necessary and thus, negative tensions continue. This workshop helps team members explore options in dealing with problematic behaviours and increase the “action” component of office interactions. The level of responsibility that team members accept for their own reactions, choices and decisions is an important factor in reducing conflict in the office setting.

Topics of this workshop include:

Usefulness of Behaviours
Personal Vulnerability
Problem Ownership
Options for Modifying the Work Environment
Process of Change
Encouragement

Child Welfare

An Adlerian Approach to Foster Care

This workshop is designed for professionals in the area of child welfare, foster parents and other interested persons working with children in foster care. Participants will be offered an Adlerian perspective for understanding the child in foster care, the foster family, and the impact of the natural family. The concepts of family constellation, family atmosphere and purposive behaviour will be explored. Other topics to be discussed: three sets of parents with whom the child lives — natural, foster and ideal; the role of encouragement in successful treatment and the goals of survival utilized by the child. Foster parents/workers will understand the logic behind a child’s presenting behaviour and get in touch with their personal feelings and expectations as foster parents and workers. Experiential exercises are an essential part of the workshop.

Building Bridges Between Foster Parents and Social Workers

Communication, cooperation, commitment and collaboration are the pathways to building a solid foundation for teamwork in child welfare. Focusing on commonality vs. difference, clarifying ownership of problems and deciding to be active rather than reactive will be the focus of the keynote address/workshop.

Creating Partnerships in Foster Care

For foster parents and social workers, working together as a team is essential. The first step is to accept each other as team members instead of as role models. Assumptions and judgments build barriers; mutual respect and encouragement build bridges. Through group exercises, participants will gain insight into sources and solutions of relational conflict and learn methods to communicate effectively.

Impact of Fostering on the Foster Family

This workshop will focus on the changes that occur upon the entrance of a new child into the foster and/or adoptive family. The concept of family constellation will be presented. Participants will be given a deeper understanding into sources of conflict among the children and skills to ensure more positive and enjoyable family life.

Partnership Between Foster Parents, Social Workers and Natural Parents in Child Welfare

Working together as a team is significant in foster care. It is important for foster parents and social workers to see each other as team members with very different, but equally important, skills. Foster parents provide the day-to-day knowledge about the foster child; workers provide the knowledge of the child and issues of his/her parents. Effective teamwork is crucial in foster care as all of the adults are “parent figures” in the foster child’s life. The natural parents of the child in care play an active role through visits. The child’s worker facilitates the decision making and legal responsibilities for the child while the foster parents create the bridges to all parts of the child’s life. This all-day workshop will look at the necessary components for effective teamwork among foster parents, social workers and natural families. Contribution from all three parties is a vital part of working together as a team and is essential to the child’s progress.

Private Logic and the Need to Belong in Foster Children/Adolescents

This workshop is designed to help workers and foster parents understand the behaviours, emotions and thinking processes of children/adolescents in care. Skills to help children/adolescents find a significant “space” in foster homes or other alternate care systems will be presented.

The Child in Foster Care

This workshop will focus on understanding a child’s view of the world and learning about what the child carries into the foster home, e.g., values, and decisions regarding adults and how to relate with them. The “vulnerability” of the foster child and the necessary components to help the child “belong” and build trust will be offered through “hands on” exercises.

Parents
Children (Birth to 12 Years)

Communication in the Family

Too often we feel our children aren’t listening to us but are we listening to them? This workshop will focus on developing verbal and non-verbal skills, sending clear messages, providing limits while maintaining self-esteem and increasing listening and talking among family members.

Keeping the Sparkle Alive in Families Through Laughter and Love

Where do our expectations come from as parents and educators? Are they realistic and helpful to the process of influencing and encouraging children? This workshop will help participants clarify their own “baggage” and learn approaches to increase positive and fun interactions.

Building Positive Memories With Your Children

Children are decision makers from the moment of birth! As adults we can influence the quality and quantity of positive life experiences that create the memories of childhood. Through this presentation, you will discover ways to encourage healthy and enjoyable interactions between adults and children. We will examine ways to maintain the creativity and excitement of childhood in our families.

Birth Order and Personality

What makes our children similar and what makes them different? It is widely believed that the position of the child (only, eldest, middle, youngest) affects the child’s personality. This workshop will help participants understand the characteristics of each birth order position and how this may affect interactions in our families.

Sibling Rivalry? Sibling Love?

Is fighting between siblings inevitable? Is it normal? What can parents do to encourage healthy relationships? It is important to know when and how to intervene. This workshop will help parents understand why siblings compete with one another, and how parents can reduce friction between children.

Raising Responsible Children

Children learn to be responsible by having the opportunity to perform tasks and contribute to family life in a meaningful way. This workshop will focus on how to involve children in accepting responsibility for their own lives. Methods of encouragement, negotiation and decision making will be highlighted.

Influencing and Motivating the School Aged Child

This workshop will outline and discuss the developmental tasks of the school-aged child. Issues which may arise with school-aged children are rules being fair, what is right and wrong, stressful peer relationships, clarifying values and challenging authority. Strategies related to the skills of encouragement, setting fair rules, social skills and effective communication will be presented. Audience participation will be encouraged.

Redirecting Children’s Behaviour

Children learn from an early age that negative behaviour guarantees attention and involvement by adults. As parents, we need to monitor our reactions to ensure that cooperative positive behaviours are being rewarded and encouraged on a daily basis. This workshop will offer strategies to rechannel negative behaviours to positive interactions, as well as methods of encouragement to increase good feelings between children and adults.

Bringing Out The Best In Our Children

As parents, we all wish to create a safe, strong and positive relationship with children. In order to accomplish this we must offer messages that children are lovable and capable. This presentation will focus on strategies to help adults and children enjoy each other on a daily basis as well as strategies to encourage children to take ownership for their own lives, i.e., clothing, homework, allowances.

Building Self-Esteem in Ourselves and Our Children

Self-esteem is based on the concept that as a person “I am lovable and capable.” Most adults have been trained to focus on their negative qualities and imperfections. Yet, as parents we are committed to build positive self-esteem within our families. This presentation will focus on strategies designed to make us feel good about our work as parents and the “how tos” of maintaining good feelings about ourselves and our children as we face the challenges and stresses of daily life.

Family Living: Fun or Friction!

Families are faced with less and less time and energy to meet all the demands and expectations from inside and out. Parents feel hurried and harried as they struggle to build self-esteem in their children and (maybe) for themselves. Can family living be an enjoyable fun filled journey? Can families be cooperative and supportive of one another on a daily basis? Does sibling fighting have to be present in all families to ensure it is truly a family?

Rights, Respect and Responsibility — Communication Styles

This workshop will focus on understanding the ways each family member participates in and creates their personal sense of belonging. Participants will explore how family members belong and how ownership of responsibilities can enhance family involvement. Communication skills and methods for creating an atmosphere of cooperation will be presented.

Who’s In Charge? Parent or Child?

Parents often vacillate between being authoritarian and being permissive with their children. This workshop will help parents to assess when and how much control to allow. Both parent and child can cooperate to have their needs met during a conflict situation. Participants will explore skills in problem solving, conflict resolution and encouragement.

Discipline Without Guilt and Anger

The use of natural and logical consequences are an effective way to deal respectfully with misbehaviour. This workshop will explore the use of consequences, a non-punishment approach to discipline.

Partnership Between Home and School

Encouragement as “The Key to Self Worth” in Our Families

To cope with the complicated world of today, children need family experiences that give them a solid sense of themselves. Parents, too, need ways to build their own sense of competence, and behaviours within. This workshop will offer strategies for increasing positive feelings in children and parents.

Catch Them When They’re Responsible and cooperative

This workshop will provide parents with skills to enhance their child’s development and to decrease undesirable behaviour. The emphasis will be on providing parents with specific strategies for encouraging their children towards increased cooperation and responsibility in their lives.

Expanding Horizons Through Celebration and Creativity

Self-esteem is based on the concept that as a person “I am lovable and capable.” Most adults have been trained to focus on their negative qualities and imperfections. Learning to celebrate ourselves as workers is essential to creating more fun and enjoyment in our daily lives. We are mirrors and models in our work with children and must maintain energy, humour and boundaries to be effective and influential. This workshop will focus on strategies to expand our creativity and promote daily celebrations of our contribution to children’s lives.

Encouraging Children to Meet Their Full Potential

Children need encouragement in order to feel acceptable, lovable and important within their families. Children are continually faced with unknown and stressful situations. Parents are in a unique position to help their children, not only to feel loved and important within the family, but also to develop the self-confidence and courage needed to face the world. This workshop offers strategies designed to build self-confidence in both parents and children.

Positive Approaches to Redirecting Children’s Behaviour

All children work to “belong” in their families, in their classrooms and with friends. They use behaviours based on their private logic that are designed to meet their needs and make sense of the world. Child logic is unlike adult logic and therefore can be confusing and frustrating. This address will focus on constructive approaches to redirecting children’s behaviours in group settings.

Teens (12 to 20 Years)

How To Listen So Teens Will Talk and Talk So Teens Will Listen!!

Parents often feel that their teenagers pay little attention to their advice, suggestions, lectures and talk! It’s possible that we talk too much and listen too little in our family relationships. Come and discuss ways to improve communication with teenagers and have more fun living together as teens and parents.

Influencing Teens Towards Self Responsibility

Teens complain that parents and teachers nag, overprotect, lecture and attempt to control their lives. Parents and teachers complain that teens do not listen and/or change annoying behaviours. This workshop will present strategies that can influence rather than control teenagers. Creating mutual respect, building communication skills and establishing ownership for one’s life will be emphasized.

Let’s Prepare to Parent the Teenager

Parents and teachers talk openly about their fears and confusion in dealing with teenagers. Do you need to understand the source of your fears and the fears of your children in approaching the teen years? This workshop will present the information on the development of a preteen (age 10-13) and teenager, the sources of parental fears and the skills that parents need to feel more secure throughout the teen years. Preparing for any stage of development our child experiences is wise. Reduce your stress through understanding your preteen and yourself as the responsible parent.

Rights, Respect and Responsibility — Parenting the Teenager

This workshop will help parents and teachers examine their attitudes and expectations towards teenagers. The leader will present practical principles and strategies to reduce conflict and stress between adults and teens. The rights of both parents and teens will be a topic of discussion as well as methods of promoting mutual respect and goodwill.

Why Do Teens Make Decisions Parents Don’t Understand

This workshop will consider the nature of decision making processes in adolescents and the role that parents can play. Discussion will focus on the changes in childrens’ ability to make decisions as they mature, the factors that influence this growth and how teens can be taught to make “good decisions”.

Bringing Out The Best In Our Teenagers

As parents, we all wish to create a safe, strong and positive relationship with teens. In order to accomplish this we must offer messages that demonstrate respect and a willingness to listen and negotiate. This presentation will focus on strategies to help adults and teens enjoy each other on a daily basis as well as strategies to encourage children to take ownership for their own lives, i.e., clothing, homework, allowances.

Making Decisions Responsibly

Teenagers are faced with constant choices and decisions with few guidelines to ensure positive results. This presentation will offer strategies to reduce the stress of decision making and to enhance the self-esteem of teens. Being active vs. reactive in decision making, using a six-step approach to making choices and encouraging oneself to face life’s challenges will be addressed.