May 18, 19, 20, 2021 3pm - 5pm
This will be presented via zoom for FREE - ZOOM LINK TO BE SENT WHEN YOU REGISTER - YOU WILL USE THE SAME ZOOM LINK FOR EACH DAY - ONLY SIGN UP ONCE
Kathy O'Connell will be presenting 3 sessions on 3 different topics each day is different
Kathy O’Connell is Director of Radiant Abilities, LLC, which provides resources and products for people with disabilities in the areas of self-esteem, relationships, personal empowerment, and living the life you want. Kathy, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, has a specialized focus in helping people with disabilities with dating and relationship success. Kathy’s work in this area also includes providing staff trainings, teaching at Syracuse University’s Inclusive U, teaching community classes, creating an online course, and speaking on dating, relationships and sexuality at conferences. Kathy is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Certified Rehabilitation Counselor. Kathy is the author of the self-improvement book, Firewalk: Embracing Different Abilities, how embracing disability and taking pride in it leads to living the life you want.
DAY ONE:
Dating and Relationships How to Support Successful Dating and Healthy Relationships for People with Disabilities (an overview) (90 minutes in length) This is a look at the social and emotional challenges of dating and relationships for people with disabilities. Learn how to:
● How to transform societal myths that results in sexual ableism about sexuality..
● How fostering self-esteem and confidence is the most effective way to promote successful dating and relationships.
● How creating healthy boundaries and skills leads to relationship success - as well as protecting people with disabilities from sexual assault.
● How to effectively support someone to develop successful dating and healthy relationships.
DAY TWO:
What’s Your Firewalk? Finding Happiness and Success with a Disability A firewalk, if done correctly, involves being so connected to your purpose, that although you may feel fear, you take a risk anyway. This was the philosophy Kathy used in doing an actual firewalk, which she equates to living with disability. Both involve fear of getting hurt and failure, but if you’re attuned with your purpose, you will accomplish much. In this presentation, you will learn:
● How to go for what you want and pursue more in life, no matter how insurmountable the challenges.
● An approach to integrating the challenges of living with a disability into a stronger version of yourself as someone moving from pain to purpose.
● How to believe in your purpose as the directing force in creating a happy and successful life with a disability
DAY THREE:
How To Have The Confidence To Create And Live The Life You Want In this workshop you will learn the following and how to actually apply it to your life to get the results you want: Increase self-esteem and confidence You will learn particular strategies for feeling good about yourself (even on the bad days!) and increasing your overall confidence so that you’re not affected so much by the attitudes and behaviors of others. You’ll also learn how to maintain a continual sense of self acceptance,
How to develop boundaries for happier relationships You will learn what boundaries feel right for you and how to effectively maintain them, especially when others try to overstep. You’ll also learn how to become more comfortable with saying “NO” to others and putting yourself first.
How to effectively communicate what you want You will learn how to communicate in a realistic and confident way about what you want. You’ll learn how doing so leads to more respect from others and feeling more fulfilled in your life.
Develop a personal plan for how to TAKE ACTION for success Living the life you want is a lot of work and you may not want to do the work, but it’s in the work that we get the results we’re looking for. Learn how to use strategies taught in this workshop to come up with a plan to ACTUALLY DO the things in life you’ve been longing to do.