Transition Workshops
Full day or weekend retreats designed to help women navigate transition.
Relationships change, loved ones die, children leave home, economic downturns threaten, careers get stale, divorce occurs, dreams push for recognition, spiritual life evolves, mid-life makes mischief…..
“Change happens at any time, but transition occurs when one chapter of your life is over and another is waiting in the wings to make its entrance.” William Bridges
Change is inevitable. Transition is optional. These workshops and retreats are created to help women turn the challenge of change into opportunities for growth and fulfillment.
Wholeness happens when we engage life through body, mind, and spirit. In times of transition, we often become more spiritually sensitive. As a person who deeply honors the sacredness of each person’s spiritual path and belief, I strive to offer an experience of openness and respect for every woman’s process. Therefore, I have designed the basic transitions workshop in two formats.
Click on the + for descriptions of each.
This Workshop or Retreat unites psychological theory of change with an honoring of spirit through poetry, story, and literature. Respecting the diversity of understanding and spiritual belief, this workshop is appealing to women of all spiritual inclinations.
You will learn:
The natural process of change and transition
How to recognize where you are in that process
How to apply the principles of transition to your life so that you can create the healthiest outcome in your next new chapter
You will experience:
Support from other women who are dealing with change
Learning from the cutting edge experts on change theory
Personal time to reflect and consider your own life in light of what you are learning
Guided experience to vision your life anew
Motivation to engage your challenges in fresh ways
The ancient art of storytelling
Others are saying:
The retreat was a rich, meaningful experience that I would highly recommend! You did an amazing job providing what each of us needed to do the work we were there to do.
Definitely worth attending-good atmosphere and good vibes between participants and instructor. Good info to take away. Clearly presented.
Eye opening session about who I am and where I am going.
Storytelling was very powerful, as was the guided meditation.
This workshop or retreat is designed for women who are dealing with change and wish to do so in the context of their Christian faith.
These workshops/retreats weave together current change theory with time honored wisdom from the Judaeo-Christian faith.
“A crisis is a holy summons to cross a threshold.” Sue Monk Kidd
You will learn:
The natural process of change and transition
How to recognize where you are in that process
How to seek and listen to spiritual guidance during these times
What the scriptures say about transitional times and how to navigate them
How to apply the principles of transition to your life and create a healthy new life chapter
You will experience:
Support from other faith based women
Biblical models for transitional experience
Learning from the cutting edge experts on change theory
Learning from Christian writers on spiritual growth through change
Guided prayer experience to vision your life anew
Personal time to reflect and consider your own life in light of what you are learning
Motivation to engage your challenges in fresh ways
Sacred storytelling
Others are saying:
I wanted to thank you once again for the “Transition Workshop” today at the church!
It was very meaningful for me.
You have planted a seed that will continue to grow inside of me, as I reflect back on the insights that I had while there.
This was a most worthwhile and meaningful day for me.
The pace helped to create a gracious space to reflect, to be, to share openly.
Your “way” with us enabled that gracious space to develop very quickly.
“Whatever the circumstances of your life, whatever your personal ties, work, and responsibilities, the understanding of type can make your perceptions clearer, your judgments sounder, and your life closer to your heart’s desire.”
Isabel Briggs Myers
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an excellent tool to facilitate individual and relational growth. It is the most widely used personality inventory in history. Last year alone, two million people gained valuable insights into themselves, their families, coworkers, and friends. By distinguishing 16 different personality types, the MBTI explains how and why different people think, behave, and feel as they do. Knowing what makes each type tick, increases self acceptance, enhances performance, and improves communication in marriages, parenting, friendships, and workplace relationships.
Currently, the MBTI is the most widely used personality instrument throughout the world. It has been translated into 16 languages and is used extensively internationally. 89 Fortune 500 companies, as well as small businesses, churches, synagogues, schools, and non-profit organizations use the MBTI to increase team camaraderie, personal performance, and increased productivity.
Counselors use the MBTI with individual clients to increase self understanding, improve communication, and determine career direction. MBTI is frequently used in pre-marital and couple’s counseling to facilitate understanding and improve relationship skills.
Wholeheartedly embracing the vibrancy that Myers-Briggs theory brings to individual and relational life, I absolutely love teaching it. Having witnessed time and time again how knowledge of type impacts a person’s self acceptance, performance, authentic expression, spirituality, career choice, and satisfaction, it is a pleasure to introduce MBTI to others.
I value the improved relationships, ability to relate “across type”, and the increased productivity that inevitably occurs through teaching MBTI in corporate, civic, school, church, and retreat settings. Below are descriptions of Myers-Briggs: Pathways to Excellence workshops. Please contact me if you would like to discuss offering a workshop for your group.
This workshop can be used in any setting: corporate, church, synagogue, non-profit organizations, and school settings.
Each participant will receive their personal MBTI assessment.
Participants learn:
Their MBTI type and a description of their personality profile
Working knowledge of all 16 personality types
Communication styles of each type
Each type’s strengths and weaknesses
Conflict management styles for each type
Participants gain:
Tools to communicate with co-workers, committee members, family, and friends
Appreciation for personal uniqueness and gifts
Understanding and respect for the styles of others
How to handle differences
Ability to work effectively with different types
This workshop can be designed to fit the particular needs of any team, be it in organizational, school, synagogue, church, or non-profit setting. Each participant will receive their personal MBTI assessments.
Participants learn:
To recognize and utilize styles and skills of different types
To work together more effectively
To evaluate strengths, blind spots, and potential for improved teamwork
Produce strategies for effective individual and team growth
Participants will gain:
Improved productivity and effectiveness
Improved morale and satisfaction among team members
Attainment of organizational goals through better working relationships
This workshop is perfect for couples or families who want to improve communication and relationship skills. Each person will receive their personal MBTI assessment.
Participants will learn:
Their own MBTI types
MBTI type of spouse or family members
To identify their own and family member’s style for taking in information and forming conclusions
Communication styles according to personality type
To identify their own and family member’s style for taking in information and forming conclusions
To listen and understand what different types are saying
To express oneself to those of differing types and be understood
To use differences in type to enhance relationship instead of destroy it
To express oneself to those of differing types and be understood
Recognize differing styles of time and money management
How type effects socialization styles
Participants will gain:
Satisfaction at home
Living well with those you love
Improved ability to work and play together
Better communication skills
New ways to manage conflict
Understanding of self and other
This is a unique workshop designed for teens. It can be offered in school, church, synagogue, or retreat settings.
Middle and high school kids often question:
These years are times of self discovery. They are exciting years, but often confusing. The dynamic and interactive workshop Free to Be uses the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator to help middle or high school students better understand themselves as well as their friends, teachers, and families.
During this workshop, each student will gain a better understanding of his/her unique personality with its particular strengths and challenges. A Myers-Briggs Type assessment and profile, which can remain confidential, will be provided for each student. Supporting materials, including a book on Myers-Briggs Type, will be provided for continued exploration and learning.
This knowledge enhances a student’s ability to:
"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." Joseph Campbell
Painting by: Mary Ghesquiere
MBTI assessments will be offered to each participant, as will training on all 16 types.
This workshop is designed for the Mom of any age and stage who:
Wonders what planet her child is on
Hears “Mom, you just don’t understand me!”
Wants to relate better with her child
Wants to help her child to relate better with others
She will learn to:
Listen so he will talk
Talk so she will listen
Assess the personality type of her children
Parent her particular child
Encourage healthy self esteem in her child
"What flows through your mind sculpts your brain. Thus you can use your mind to change your brain for the better-which will benefit your whole being-and every person whose life you touch.” Rick Hanson, PhD.
Wellness Through Meditation is offered in two formats:
This workshop is perfect for anyone who is seeking to better manage stress, anxiety, and stress related physical conditions. It is also ideal for those simply desiring to create more peace of mind. This training is an ideal referral source for physicians who wish to support their patients’ well-being through mind/body techniques.
The American Institute of Stress states that 75 to 90% of primary care visits are stress related. Stress is an inevitable part of life; it is “The brain’s response to any demand”. (National Institute of Mental Health). When unmanaged, chronic, or excessive, stress becomes “distress” and contributes to physical and emotional disturbances such as anxiety, depression, colitis, IBS, autoimmune disorders, high blood pressure, heart disease, and many more.
Through meditation we can learn ways to shift “distress” into “eustress”, or positive stress. The mind and body then respond to challenges in ways that support healing and a sense of well being.
Guided imagery is a form of meditation that has been shown to have a positive effect on health, creativity, and performance. It is easy to learn and master. Therefore, I have chosen this type of meditation as the basis for this workshop.
Participants will learn:
How stress effects the mind and body
How meditation can reduce stress and increase relaxation and well-being
How to meditate through guided imagery
How to incorporate guided imagery meditations into daily life
Participants will experience:
Photo by: Thomas Jackson
“Poetry is to prose - As dancing is to walking.”
John Wain
Welcome to the dance lesson.
“Stories in themselves have a special power. They compel us to hear and attend and listen in a way that other forms of speech do not. Public speakers, from pulpit to politics, know how an anecdote can make an audience’s ears perk up.
Master teachers use stories to help students absorb, understand, and remember effortlessly. “
Fran Stallings
"Dr. Milton Erickson, that great genius of hypnotherapy, used anecdote as metaphor to effect what often seemed to be miraculous cures. His innovative use of storytelling has opened up limitless possibilities for effective psychotherapy.”
Lee Wallas, Clinical Social Worker
Story is poetic prose; a dance through which teller and listener engage. For millennium, people have used story, anecdote, and metaphor to educate, entertain, transmit values, inspire, and offer healing.
This workshop is designed to empower communicators who wish to increase their effectiveness and impact on their audiences in the classroom, church, synagogue, therapy office, or retreat venue.
This workshop is designed for you if you are a:
Participants will learn:
Why story is a powerful form of communication
How to use it in teaching, preaching, storytelling, therapy
How body language, words, and voice contribute to effective impact
How the brain responds to and integrates story
How to create the "story-listeners trance"
The Hero's Journey pattern in all story and how to craft it in yours
Participants will experience:
The joy of story
The power of practicing a few easy skills
Excitement in building new and easy to learn methods
Empowerment to engage with audiences with more confidence, authority and motivational impact.
Painting by: Mary Ghesquiere
Come and play with us. We are certain you will be glad you did! Marsha Needham and Martha Tate
"Sometimes the simplest and best use of our will is to drop it all and just walk out from under everything that is covering us, even if only for an hour or so." Mark Nepo
Full Day PlayShop to help you:
Re-kindle Creativity
Re-Experience Joy
Re-Juvenate Spirit
Re-Vision
Remember in childhood being:
You were also building:
Creative potential
Ability to problem solve
Happiness quotient
Vision for your future
Where the Power of Play will delight you into a healthier, happier you.
Learn why and how companies like Google are playing their way into success and how you can too
Experience the rejuvenating power of breath and guided movement
Enjoy walking mediations in a beautiful, natural setting
Play safe, fun and nurturing games
Photo by: Jim Freeman