Frankfort , Kentucky Regional Conference
“Remembering, Helping, Healing”
Friday, March 19, 2010
*Arrive early for Picture Buttons
12:00pm-1:00pm Registration
1:00pm-1:15pm Welcome & cover weekend events.
1:15pm-2:15pm Speaker Darcie Sims
2:15pm-2:30pm Break
2:30pm-4:30pm Space Between Breaths
4:30pm-5:45pm Free time
5:45pm-7:00pm Dinner, Speaker Rosemary Smith
7:00pm Alan Pederson & Candlelighting
Saturday March 20th
7:00am-9:00am Registration-Continental Breakfast
9:00am-10:15am Darcie Sims
10:15am-10:30am Break
10:30am-11:45am Session I
12:00pm-1:30pm Banquet, Speaker Melinda Simpson
1:30pm-3:15pm Session II
3:15pm-3:30pm Break
3:30pm Alan Pedersen
Friday March 19, 2010
*Arrive early for Picture Buttons
12:00pm-1:00pm Registration
1:00pm-1:15pm Welcome & cover weekend events.
1:15pm-2:15pm Speaker Darcie Sims
2:15pm-2:30pm Break
2:30pm-4:30pm Space Between Breaths
4:30pm-5:45pm Free time
5:45pm-7:00pm Dinner, Speaker Rosemary Smith
7:00pm Alan Pederson & Candlelighting
Saturday March 20th
7:00am-9:00am Registration-Continental Breakfast
9:00am-10:15am Darcie Sims
10:15am-10:30am Break
10:30am-11:45am Session I
12:00pm-1:30pm Banquet, Speaker Melinda Simpson
1:30pm-3:15pm Session II
3:15pm-3:30pm Break
3:30pm Alan Pedersen
*TCF Frankfort Member Regina Blanton will be making 3” picture buttons before the session begins and during the noon hour. Please bring a 4 x 6 picture of your child(ren)
Darcie Sims -Ph.D.,CHT, CT, GMS – Bereaved parent, also a grief management specialist, a nationally certified thanatologist, a certified pastoral bereavement specialist and a licensed psychotherapist, hypnotherapist as well as author of Why are the Casseroles Always Tuna, Footsteps Through the Valley, Touchstones, and If I Could Just See Hope. Darci has served on the past board of directors for TCF and is currently an editor for Grief Digest.
Alan Pedersen – Bereaved parent, Award winning songwriter playing more than 100 concerts a year, former Nashville songwriter Recording Artist. Alan has released three CD’s since 2003, with tributes to his daughter Ashley.
Alice J. Wisler-Koller – Alice ’s son Daniel was four when he died after cancer treatments in 1997. Alice founded Daniel's House Publications, a support group to help other bereaved parents and for six years sent TRIBUTES, an ezine. She compiled 2 cookbooks, Slices of Sunlight and Down the Cereal Aisle. Alice is the author of Rain Song and How Sweet It Is. Alice lives in Durham, NC with her husband and three children.
Bill Ritter – Now retired Methodist minister, wrote the book Take the Dimness of My Soul Away—Healing After a Loved One’s Suicide, which has received national recognition for its thoughtful and personal look into a very difficult subject. Bill’s first son Bill Jr., died from suicide at the age of 27. An attorney, Bill Jr. was diagnosed with ADD, Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, and died at his own hand in 1994, only four months after diagnosis.
Terri Daniel – H ospice worker, grief guidance facilitator and afterlife awareness educator. Terri is also author of A Swan In Heaven, and her most recent book, 'Embracing Death: A New Look at Grief, Gratitude and God’ explores the cultural and religious myths about the afterlife and offers a path to alternative perceptions via meditation, visualization and after-death communication.
Melinda Simpson – Melinda is a Bereaved sibling, her brother died in 1974. Melinda received her B.A. from Georgetown College 1993 her MSW at UK 1997. Presently is employed by Hospice of the Bluegrass since 1993 where she serves as Community Resource Coordinator, Social Worker and Bereavement Counselor. Melinda has done extensive work with Bereaved Parents, siblings and children.
Becky Greer – Becky is a bereaved mother of four beautiful children. Becky has spoken at regional and national conferences for bereaved parents and participated in J.I.M.’s conference. Becky lives with her husband Gam in London, Ky.
Rosemary Smith – Wife, Mother, Pharmacist, Author, Speaker, and Documentarian, lives in Beattyville, Kentucky. After losing her two oldest sons Drew and Jeremiah on July 23, 1992, she dedicated her life to helping other families cope with the immense pain of losing a child. Through the authoring of her book, “Children of the Dome,” Rosemary shares the journey of her personal loss along with twenty-seven other families and how they survived the loss of a child. She and her husband Luther have co-produced a documentary “Space Between Breaths,” that explores what loss can teach us about a life fully lived.
Misti Lynn Hall – Misti Hall earned her M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Nova Southeastern University and attended University of Florida’s Arts in Medicine program. Misti has worked extensively with Hospice families/ patients and was a founding co-facilitator for a Parent Bereavement Support Group in Vero Beach, FL. The Parent Bereavement Support Group inspired her to author a book, A Return to Hope. Misti currently practices as a Life Coach and Grief Educator using a broad range of Expressive Arts. She dedicates her practice to serving those experiencing major life transitions and grief related issues.
Susan Carlson – Susan Carlson is a parent who has experienced the death of her child, a professional clinical social worker and a college professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Cincinnati, and an artist. She is a frequent workshop presenter, and her art work has been shown at galleries and art shows. Her recent work, “I Can’t Imagine…art work from the terrain of grief” has been exhibited to numerous groups, including bereaved parents, mental health professionals and students, and to the general public. The reception has been universally outstanding.
Jim Sims – Jim became involved with The Compassionate Friends soon after the death of his 37 yr. old son Jeffrey in October 2001. TCF became an integral part of Jim’s grief work along with reading and grief therapy. He began facilitating meetings in 2003 and has been a leader of the Bluegrass ( Lexington) TCF chapter since 2006. He has attended the TCF Chapter Leadership Training Program as well as multiple national TCF conferences. A “How Men Grieve” pamphlet prompted him to learn more about how gender influences the typical grieving patterns of men and women.
Judy Burris/Wayne Richards – A sister-brother author and photographer team that has been intrigued with butterflies since they were children. They were raised to have a strong respect for the natural world and always enjoyed spending time on hiking trails with their mom, looking for animals and trying to identify the trees, wildflowers and insects. As adults, this childhood interest in animal and plant life has translated into a nearly full-time devotion to gardening specifically to support butterflies in every stage of their development, (egg - caterpillar - chrysalis - butterfly). They have spent many years observing, hand-raising, and photographing these miraculous creatures in their own backyard butterfly gardens.
Information on workshops:
“Space Between Breaths” , documentary on child loss that discusses: Why are we here? Is it possible to find true happiness after a great loss? The answers to some of life's most important questions are explored in SPACE BETWEEN BREATHS, a powerful, uplifting film, which looks at the potential in grief and the ways it can become a motivational, transformational force in our lives. Featuring conversations with parents who have lost a child, including those whose loved ones died at Columbine, on September 11th, and a mother whose son was one of the first U.S. soldiers to die in Iraq, SPACE BETWEEN BREATHS offers an inspired and healing perspective on loss which will transform the way you live and love.
a) I Can’t Imagine (Susan Carlson)-- The power of an image can often capture what cannot be said in words. This workshop is presented as a series of artwork pieces I have created since the loss of our son 7 years ago. As an artist, I have used my creative process to express the inexpressible in my grief. This exhibit is an attempt to share my experience with others; to feel less alone. Other grieving parents who have viewed the exhibit relate that the experience was deeply meaningful to them. They feel that the images captured the unique and powerful feelings of our losses: ones that words alone often cannot reach. We are able to share more of our experiences with each other and feel deeper commonality by connection through the artwork. The format for this workshop is a viewing of the artwork, a time for sharing of experiences and feelings touched off by the viewing, a period for any questions about my process in creating this series, and discussion of how others have used their creative processes to work through their loss. Participants will be encouraged to allow that process to unfold as part of their continued healing.
b) Journaling (Alice Wisler-Koller)— Participants will learn how journaling and other forms of writing can help in the healing process. You will have a chance to write and, if you wish, to share your experiences with one another after each exercise.
c) Surviving Suicide (Bill Ritter)-- How do you survive after a child in your family dies by suicide? How do you learn to continue living, parent surviving children? How do you hold onto your spouse and look at each other without guilt, remorse, or regrets and believe you can walk this journey together?
d) Building Self Esteem After the Death of a Child (Alice Wisler-Koller) I n this work shop we will think about our identity as grievers and to ponder on how much we have changed because of death, and yet focus on how we can continue to build ourselves into healthy people as we honor and remember our children and siblings.
e) Butterfly Workshop-- We enjoy teaching others about flower gardening, nature photography and butterfly life cycles. We teach about the emotionally comforting aspects of gardening, nurturing the creatures in our own backyards, and our own experiences with growing "memory gardens". We encourage everyone to give more serious thought to natural habitat conservation and responsible, poison-free management of their own backyards to support native flora and fauna for future generations to enjoy.
f) When the House is Empty (Becky Greer)-- This workshop is a presentation for parents whose all/only children have died. Many different perspectives will be discussed. How do you relate to friends/family with children? Are you still a parent? Ample time available for questions and comments.
g) Creative Arts (Misti Lynn Hall)-- The Mandala Expressive Arts Workshop will immerse you in the healing benefits of Expressive Arts. Expressive Art is an ancient method of art that allows you to express thoughts, emotions and feelings in a variety of art forms. The Expressive Arts are the language of the soul. The different Expressive Art forms can be used to calm the mind, heal the body and transform the spirit. Most importantly, the Expressive Arts allow you to use a nonverbal form of communication to express your thoughts and feelings that may be too painful to discuss. In this particular workshop we will be using paint to create Mandalas of Healing. You will be able to tell your story of loss, grief, pain, and mourning through painting. As well as, discover insight to your healing. You will be guided to release grief pain and to summon your inner levels that allow you to heal. PLEASE NOTE…There is NO prior artistic ability required. Expressive Art is a method of therapeutic creativity that focuses on the PROCESS of creating art, not the product.
h) How Men and Women Grieve Differently (Jim Sims)-- This workshop will explore how the typical grieving styles of men and women are different and why understanding these differences is important in marriages, families, the workplace and other relationships.
i) Love Beyond Life (Terri Daniel)-- This presentation offers a metaphysical perspective on death and dying that provides unique tools for navigating the grief journey. Using interactive exercises, guided visualization and after-death communication techniques (ADC), participants will connect to higher levels of consciousness, where out-of-body experience and death itself are seen as simply the continuation of life in another dimension. Based on the understanding that we are more than just these physical bodies and our souls have a specific purpose that is fulfilled by our experiences on earth, the bereaved find comfort in realizing that a loved one's death was not senseless or without meaning. As an intuitive spiritual counselor, Terri helps the bereaved to understand the nature of impermanence and embrace the grief process with love and acceptance.
j) Butterfly Workshop— (Judy Burris/Wayne Richards) We enjoy teaching others about flower gardening, nature photography and butterfly life cycles. We teach about the emotionally comforting aspects of gardening, nurturing the creatures in our own backyards, and our own experiences with growing "memory gardens". We encourage everyone to give more serious thought to natural habitat conservation and responsible, poison-free management of their own backyards to support native flora and fauna for future generations to enjoy.
Remembering, Helping, Healing
Frankfort , KY Regional Conference 2010
Registration Form: March 19 & 20
To insure a complimentary shirt for those registering and to include your child(ren’s) picture in the slideshow, please make sure your registration is received by February 25, 2010.
Guest Name:__________________________________________________
(please print)
Guest Name:__________________________________________________
(please print)
Address:______________________________________________________
City:____________________________State:______
Zip___________Phone________________________Email:_______________________________________________
Name of Child: _____________________________ age ____birth date _______________ death date______________
Name of Child: _____________________________ age ____birth date _______________ death date______________
Name of Child: _____________________________ age ____birth date _______________ death date______________
Name of Child: _____________________________ age ____birth date _______________ death date______________
Conference Registration : $55.00 per person includes Friday night dinner, continental breakfast Saturday morning and banquet lunch on Saturday. Rooms available for $74 + tax at Capital Plaza Hotel. Must be reserved by Feb. 25 and mention TCF. 502-227-5100
Mail Registration to:
The Compassionate Friends of Frankfort, KY, PO Box 4075, Frankfort, KY 40604
If you have family/friends that wish to only attend Friday night dinner or join us for only lunch on Saturday, we are making this possible, but please let us know how many in your group attending Friday night only? ____$10.00 dinner (how many). Saturday luncheon________$15.00 lunch (how many)?
One complimentary shirt will be provided for each registration, if you would like to order additional shirts for family/ friends the charge is $6.00each. ________How many additional? (Add $1.00 for X sizes:)
Conference T-Shirt: Small_____Medium_____Large_____ XLarge_____ XXLarge ____XXXLarge____
(please specify how many of each size when you mark the form, example: Small_ 2_)
Please submit a small photo of your child with your registration for our slideshow by February 25th. Place child’s name and dates on the back of the picture. We do our utmost to return all pictures but please do not send originals.
There will be tables available for memory items if you would like to bring a picture or special item to share.
Our speakers and workshop conductors will have CD’s, DVD’s, books, etc for purchase and make themselves available to sign the materials during the conference breaks, before and after sessions.
Workshop Selection:
Friday 2:30-4:30pm Saturday 10:30am-11:45am Saturday 1:30pm-3:15pm
___Space Between Breaths ___Surviving Suicide ___Creative Arts
___I Can’t Imagine ___Building Self Esteem After ___How Men & Women
___Journaling the Death of a Child Grieve Differently
___Butterfly workshop ___Love Beyond Life
___When the House is Empty ___Butterfly Workshop
