Workshops

 

WHY BOOK SHARRON FOR YOUR NEXT WORKSHOP?

Sharron is a Registered Nurse with over 30 years of psychiatric experience. As well, she is a qualified cognitive behavioural therapist for anxiety and depression. She combined her knowledge with humour skills to create an unique book, Take The Wheels Off your Worry Bus. This has been described as the single most helpful, easy to understand book coping with the complexities of anxiety.

Sharron’s numerous television presentations and articles have highlighted her unique style which gives a fun approach to very serious problems. She has offered individualized workshops and keynote presentations for fifteen year to business, health care, education and support groups.

She has been a speaker at international and national meetings. Recently, she presented at Lymphoma Foundation conferences in New York, NY and Hamilton as well as the Life after Breast Cancer conference in Hamilton, Ontario.

Sharron presents serious topics in a light, entertaining style. Her programs offer relevant, practical ideas with high energy, safe humour. Combining her professional and personal experience, she offers insights and practical skills to cope with all types of anxiety.

She has three sons and worked full time so she is aware of the feeling of being on a treadmill. She advocates humour as a way to stay resilient and “go with the flow”

She applies these skills to help patients coping with serious illness and offers useful, fun ideas for caregivers.

Participants learn the benefits of humour and come away refreshed. Sharron leaves you energized and enthusiastic about changing your perspectives and behaviours.

HUMOUR TO HEAL

Humor and Chronic Illness: Finding the Humor When Nothing's Funny

Anxiety is a natural reaction to having a serious illness, however, it creates further problems if not controlled. These include poor sleep, appetite, and physical discomforts such as headaches, dizziness and upset stomach.

In this interactive workshop you will learn about the mind/body connection and explore skills to stop the vicious cycle of one scary thought leading to another. Recognizing and changing catastrophic self-talk is important. The triggers and symptoms of anxiety will be discussed and wellness activities will be suggested. Participants will enjoy humour skills. Relaxation and mindfulness exercises are offered to gain a sense of control.

“There’s not much fun in medicine, but there’s a lot of medicine in fun!”

HUMOUR YOUR STRESS

Humour is one of our most important, but often underused skills for coping with anxiety and UFO’s ( Un Foreseen Occurrences)

It gives resilience and perspective in times of adversity or stress. Humour can help us manage change, remain creative and work more effectively. With humour, we can feel ‘in control’ of unpleasant situations or with difficult people.

In addition, humour can decrease anger and help build relationships.

Sharron addresses the causes of anxiety and explains how symptoms such as headache, gastric upset or dizziness can be due to anxiety. She offers unique ideas on how to calm your body and mind and gives examples of how to attack anxiety with humour!

This presentation can be offered as a key note or workshop for health care workers, teachers and those in business.

In this upbeat and practical ‘how to’ session you will learn to minimize stress. As well, you can explore how to better manage emotions, thought patterns and physical discomfort while increasing your fun factor.

You will:

• Assess your stress level – “frantic, frenzied or frazzled”
• Learn how to limit and handle unnecessary distress
• Try relaxing with "30 second quickies"
• Increase awareness of distressing thought patterns and explore how to replace them with more balanced, realistic thinking
• Generate options to relax and rejuvenate
• Be introduced to mindfulness
• Learn light hearted strategies to relax and rejuvenate
  

HUMOUR IN THE WORKPLACE
(45 minutes to 3 hrs)

Sharon has interviewed business executives, support staff, construction workers, teachers and health care professionals about their workplace atmosphere. They all agree that their co-workers make the difference. A positive, fun workplace increases productivity and creativity. Employees thrive in a fun, inclusive, caring environment. Even if you work a job that is humour resistant you can learn to become your own CEO of humour (Create Entertainment Ourselves)

Problems addressed:

• Difficult people,
• Deadlines
• Change.
• Energy or enthusiasm.

You will:

• Explore strategies to improve morale and build relationships
• Increase your ability to laugh at yourself while taking your work seriously
• Practice mindfulness concepts
• Have ideas to make meetings more stimulating and fun
• Discover new ways to manage stress

CARE FOR THE CAREGIVER
(1/2 to 3 hours)

Caregiver burden and burnout are important, prevalent, and preventable. They are caused by the physical, psychological and emotional response borne by a person who cares for the elderly, chronically ill, or disabled. Caregivers may experience fatigue, stress, anxiety and depression. Caregivers often feel guilty if they spend time on themselves rather than their ill or elderly loved ones

Sharron’s workshop addresses two types of caregivers:

1. FAMILY OR SUPPORT CAREGIVERS

Sharron will explore:

• Attitudes and behaviors that may indicate burnout
• Taking time for self-reflection and identify the need for rejuvenation
• How to de- stress with humour

2. PROFESSIONAL CAREGIVERS

A workshop for health care workers and teachers

• the effect of increased workload
• How to recognize your personal symptoms of stress
• How to take control
• How to Lighten Up not Tighten Up

COMMUNICATION
(1-3 hours)

Don’t clam up --then blow up!

Ever notice our frustration when we notice many people talk but don’t listen?

As well, often people are on a teeter totter of communication. They say nothing about what bothers them until they can’t hold their frustration then get angry and ‘blow up’ saying things for which they feel embarrassed. Then they revert back to saying nothing and the process begins all over! You can explore and practice balanced communication skills to end this teeter totter approach.

Who would use this workshop?

• Workplace -dealing with difficult people
• Couples-building relationships
• Those with anxiety/depression who can’t say no without guilt

Some common Problems:

• Can’t say not without feeling guilty
• Have difficulty asking for help
• Allow others to control your time
• Can’t ask for money that is owed
• Make decisions on the basis of “should” rather than what you want
• Avoid arguments at all costs
• Say nothing about what others you

You will:

• Discover the B’s of Balanced Communication
• Changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviours
• How to learn just the right words to express yourself
• How to develop win-win situations
• Get rid of ‘guilt’ (the gift that keeps on giving)
• Learn how to use ‘silent humour’

Humour in Golf?

Sharron is a long time golfer and member of the Hamilton Golf and Country Club in Hamilton, Ontario. She even got a hole in one! Her combination of golfer, nurse and humourist make her a great after dinner speaker. She has a half hour presentation that will have your group chuckling about the comedy at the golf course.

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