Compassion Fatigue Solutions

Safeguards Training for Children and Adult Services is sponsoring four of my Compassion Fatigue workshops this Winter: Two in Markham and two in London. If you are a member of CMHO, OARTY, ONTCHILD/YPRO, ANCFSAO or Community Living Ontario, the price of these workshops is extremely low.

In addition, a non-sponsored version of these training sessions are being offered in Kingston. Visit my website for more details.

Walking the Walk: Creative Tools for Transforming Compassion Fatigue

January 18, 2010 - Holiday Inn & Suites, Toronto (Markham)
or
March 29, 2010 - Delta London Armouries, London, On.

Description
Françoise Mathieu, M.Ed., CCC.Certified Counsellor, Compassion Fatigue Specialist and Director of WHP will present this one day training (this will be followed by the Trainer-the-Trainer session so you can take this valuable training back to your agency.)

Compassion fatigue is characterized by deep emotional and physical exhaustion and by a shift in a helping professional's sense of hope and optimism about the future and the value of their work. It has been called "a disorder that affects those who do their work well" (Figley 1995). The level of compassion fatigue a helper experiences can ebb and flow from one day to the next, and even very healthy helpers with optimal life/work balance and self care strategies can experience a higher than normal level of compassion fatigue when they are overloaded, are working with a lot of traumatic content, or find their case load suddenly heavy with clients who are all chronically in crisis.

Compassion fatigue is a normal consequence of working in the helping field. The best strategy to address compassion fatigue is to develop excellent self care strategies, as well as an early warning system that lets the helper know that they are moving into the caution zone of Compassion Fatigue. This is a highly interactive one day workshop, incorporating a combination of solo, small group and whole group activities.

Registration Details & Fee(s):
Members: Training Fee: $0 plus $50 Admin Fee+GST
Non Members: Training Fee: $99 plus $50 Admin Fee+GST

To register click here

Compassion Fatigue Train the Trainer: 2 day course

January 19-20, 2010 - Holiday Inn & Suites, Markham
or
March 30-31, 2010 - Delta London Armouries, London

Description
Françoise Mathieu, M.Ed., CCC.Certified Counsellor, Compassion Fatigue Specialist and Director of WHP has designed a two day, intensive train-the-trainer retreat on Compassion Fatigue.

This train the trainer workshop offers tools, handouts, strategies, training material and marketing strategies to adapt Walking the Walk to your agency's specific needs (and to your own presentation style).

The train the trainer workshop is designed to take you deep first, to gain a true and thorough understanding of your own relationship to CF. Then you will learn the didactic details (what to teach, how to teach) and finally talk about the mechanics of the whole process (how to customize this for your own work needs/goals etc.).

Spaces limited to a maximum of 20 participants.Certificates of Completion will be provided

PREREQUISITES**
Prior attendance to the full day or half day workshop Walking the Walk is required. (You may have attended a session at your workplace, or in a different community in the recent past). For those who have not attended this workshop in the past, Walking the Walk will be offered on the day prior to this training. If you have attended Walking the Walk at an earlier date, please indicate when that was on your registration form.

Outcomes
You will Learn:
·How to use the Compassion Fatigue Workbook
·What are Compassion Fatigue, Caregiver Stress, Vicarious Traumatization and burnout
·Signs and symptoms of CF/VT/Burnout
· Assessment tools
· Warning signs
· Resiliency skills
· Self Care Strategies
· Academy of traumatology standards of Ethics
· How to offer psychoeducation on this topic
· Experiential activities that work with audiences
· How to design your own workshop: what is your target audience

Pricing
Member fee $52.50
Non-member fee $260.40

To register click here

For more information contact:
Contact Name: Donna Stevens
Contact Phone: (905) 889-5030
Contact Fax: (905) 889-7155
Contact Email: donna@safeguards-training.net

Hi, how are you? Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? :-)

I had a very interesting week and had the pleasure of presenting at the stunning Dundurn Castle in Hamilton to professionals working in developmental pediatrics at Hamilton Health Sciences and in the community. Thank you for your warm hospitality and for tolerating my big booboo at the train station (basically I made someone wait for me for 1.5 hours due to a comedy of errors...so sorry...)

The week ahead is a busy one: I will be presenting at the CHUM in Montreal on Tuesday, working with health care staff from palliative care and oncology. Then, it's off to Newmarket to work with Ontario Works staff from York Region, for three days of training. Next week is the two day Compassion Fatigue Train the trainer back home in Kingston. For those of you who may be interested in attending the next Train the Trainer, which is being held in March, please note that there are only 20 spots available and that registrations are coming in fairly steadily, therefore to avoid disappointment, please consider registering soon. Please also note that from March onwards, there will be a prerequisite to attend the Train the Trainer workshop: you must have completed a full day or half day "Walking the Walk" session at some point in the past or simply attend the one day training being offered on the day prior to the Train the Trainer session. For more information click here.

Something new: I will be offering an e-learning session for a private group in a couple of weeks via a process called Fireside Chat: it's a very simple and affordable process whereby participants use their laptop and a phone line to take part in a teleconference while being able to view the power point slides. If I like it, I might use this to start offering some distance learning sessions in the new year.

I am changing decades in two weeks. Gulp.

Finally, if you are building a christmas wish list for yourself, I would like to recommend some good old standbys from my library:

Take time for your life by Cheryl Richardson
Mindfulness-based stress reduction cd package by Jon Kabat-Zinn
50 ways to simplify your life by Patrick Fanning

In peace,

Françoise

peonies from my garden. A brief burst of colour to start the summer.

Walking the Walk: Creative Tools for Transforming Compassion Fatigue
March 2nd, 2010 Donald Gordon Centre, Kingston, On., 8:30am-4:00pm

Instructor: Françoise Mathieu, M.Ed. CCC. Compassion Fatigue Specialist

Workshop Description: Compassion fatigue is a normal consequence of working in the helping field. The best strategy to address compassion fatigue is to develop excellent self care strategies, as well as an early warning system that lets the helper know that they are moving into the caution zone of Compassion Fatigue. This is a highly interactive one day workshop, incorporating a combination of solo, small group and whole group activities.

Topics covered will include: Understanding compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma. Symptom checklist, targeting areas for strategic planning; Evaluating self-care, identifying triggers; Developing a personalised strategic plan for identifying and treating compassion fatigue.

*This workshop is also a prerequisite for the two day CF Train the Trainer workshop which will be offered immediately following the March 2nd training.

Who should attend? Helping professionals in the fields of mental health, health care, education, emergency services, corrections and law enforcement, volunteers and caregivers.

Cost: $165.00 (incl gst) includes lunch, breaks and handouts.


Compassion Fatigue Train the Trainer Retreat
March 3 & 4th 2010. Donald Gordon Centre, Kingston

Instructor: Françoise Mathieu, M.Ed. CCC. Compassion Fatigue Specialist

Workshop Description: This workshop offers tools, handouts, training material, strategies and marketing tips to adapt the one day Compassion Fatigue Workshop Walking the Walk to your community's specific needs (and to your own presentation style).

**Prerequisite: This workshop is aimed at helping professionals and educators in the helping fields. Prior attendance to full day or half day Walking the Walk is highly recommended. Walking the Walk will be offered on March 2, 2010. Please email whp at cogeco.ca for more information.

Cost: $598.00 (incl gst) which includes lunch, breaks, training manuals, power point presentation and handout templates. **Space is limited to 20 participants for this retreat.

More information and registration forms will be posted on the website next week

with Françoise Mathieu, M.Ed., CCC.
Location: Donald Gordon Conference Centre Kingston, On.

A beautiful location and great food. A nice starting point for a two day intensive retreat to become (or hone your skills as) a compassion fatigue trainer.

Workshop Size
Spaces limited to a maximum of 20 participants.
Certificates of Completion will be provided
Cost (includes lunch and morning and afternoon breaks): $598.00 CND
This fee covers cost of materials including training manuals and handout templates.

Workshop Description
Some past participants of our one day Compassion Fatigue workshop (Walking the Walk) expressed an interest in receiving help in designing a workshop to bring back to their communities and developing skills and knowledge base to deliver compassion fatigue workshops themselves. This train the trainer workshop offers tools, handouts, strategies, training material and marketing strategies to adapt Walking the Walk to your community's specific needs (and to your own presentation style). You do not need to have attended WtheW in the past to benefit from this training.

Because of the small size of the group, we will customize certain aspects of the training to your specific needs. A questionnaire will be sent ahead of time to establish your needs/goals and objectives and aim to fulfill as many of these as possible.

Day one will be experiential (you will participate in a one day CF workshop) and Day two will discuss tools, strategies and techniques to develop and deliver the workshops on your own and become a CF educator and trainer.

What differentiates this workshop from other educational sessions out there is the extra layer of understanding and validation that we hope to convey to our workshop participants. Therefore, the train the trainer workshop is designed to take you deep first, to gain a true and thorough understanding of your own relationship to CF. Then we go into the didactic details (what to teach, how to teach) and finally talk about the mechanics of the whole process (how to customize this for your own work needs/goals etc.). More info: www.compassionfatigue.ca

Things are heating up around here. I have been very busy putting the final touches to the One and Two day train the trainer workshops scheduled for September and November and I am trying to find a superlative that adequately conveys the excitement I feel at finally getting a training workbook completed after all this time and simply at having had enough uninterrupted time to just write and think.

For participants planning to attend a train the trainer session in the Fall: I have created a new web page (a Train the Trainer site) which can be found at cftrainers.blogspot.com

For now it's all going to be deposited there, but I may reorganise it all later so it makes more sense. Just bear with me, if you please.

If you are coming to a training session with me this Fall, I invite you to go have a look and subscribe to receive updates.

But first of all, let's briefly look back at a more peaceful time (ie a week ago when I was still on holidays) and the view I had the privilege of staring at for 2.5 weeks while I just sat and looked out. There was so much weather happening that there was no need for any other entertainment. Rain, thunder storms, rainbows, loons swimming by, more clouds, sunshine, a small thunder storm, a big puffy could, sunshine, rain etc. This was how the day would unfold. I sat, ate, read a bit, chatted, ate some more, played badminton with kids, ate (did I mention that one already?) went for long kayak rides in the bulging flooded creeks and primarily just sat and stared out at the lake. Needless to say it was wonderfully restorative.

I am going to be fairly non communicative for the next while as I am busy working on two key projects: the Train the Trainer workbook and the interviews for the book project (see previous posts for more info on both). So do come back for a visit, but I don't expect to be fully back to my weekly posts until mid September. Hasta Luego as they say.

I have written elsewhere in this blog about my frustrations with the highly variable quality of continuing education for helping professionals.

One of the primary reasons for which my friend Robin and I created the CF workshops in 2001 was to offer something that we would enjoy attending. We had been to dozens of training courses that promised (but failed) to deliver tools and strategies that we as clinicians were starving for. Since, in addition to this, I spent my entire early school life bored out of my mind (reading novels on my lap to survive from Grades 1-10), I have become a rather tough workshop participant. No, that's not entirely true, I am very polite. I may not say much at the workshop per se, but truth is I am internally drumming my fingers in exasperation and writing cribs notes for a future novel or next week's groceries on my lap.

All of this lengthy preamble to say that it was with very low expectations that I enrolled for a one day course on assessment tools for trauma work last week. I arrived at the workshop feeling neutral, hoping to learn something. In fact, it turned out to be a wonderful training day where I learned a lot and was attentive and awake to the instructor the entire day.

The first 10 Minutes

There are several things that the instructor did in the first 10 minutes that indicated to me that this was going to be a good workshop. First, she drew us in by sharing some information about the type of client cases that she sees. Brief storytelling and relevant case examples are always great ways to start, in my opinion.

Secondly, she expressed concern (and therefore offered validation) that the material we were going to work with was potentially very dry and may not be easy to digest in a one day intensive format. Yet she taught us how to use the tools with highly informative case examples and drew us in to a rather dry topic.

Thirdly, she had mastery - she has been teaching on this topic for many years, and her expertise anchored the workshop.

Finally, she was very genuine and confidant about her material and her work.

A few Key Things to observe

If you are a trainer yourself, or interested in becoming a trainer, I would invite you to pay close attention to a few key things during the next workshop you attend:

1) Observe the first ten minutes of the workshop: How does the presenter draw you in? How does she set the stage for the day?

2) Does the trainer deliver on the promised deliverables?

3) Pacing of the day: respecting agreed upon times for breaks/lunch etc.

4) Staying focused on the task at hand - not allowing questions from the audience to derail the workshop yet being able to answer them succinctly and effectively

5) Genuineness

6) Warmth

7) Mastery of the topic: Confidence and Competence

I lucked out last week - the trainer had the competence and confidence to deliver a good workshop. Competence came from her wealth of experiences as a trauma specialist, (and clearly top notch clinical training) and confidence came from doing what she loves and doing it very well (training others in trauma work).

8) Sense of humour

9) Approachability

That's my quick list. Not all good trainers are warm and approachable, but it sure makes for a nice learning environment.

So, if you are trauma workers, maybe you want to know who this was after all this?

Good take a look at my recommended list of trainers, her name and workshops are listed: Natalie Zlodre at the Hincks in Toronto. A job well done in this learning curmudgeon's opinion.

"It's amazing how long it takes to complete something you're not working on."
--R.D. Clyde (from Bill O'Hanlon's newsletter June 16, 2008)

That quote is from an email that I recently received from Bill O'Hanlon, solution focused therapist/writer/workshop presenter extraordinaire. Bill has focused some of his vast energy in developing products and training for aspiring authors and workshop presenters (go to www.billohanlon.com and follow the various links) as well as offering excellent psychotherapy workshops.

The quote struck me as it made me think of all the projects, ideas, future dreams some clients share with me but never finish. I am sure you have experienced this too: sometimes, once you have heard about an idea more than 5 times (say, from a friend), and time has passed and nothing has progressed, you tend to lose a bit of enthusiasm at hearing about the idea. Yet, the holder of the idea seems no less deflated or discouraged: they savour thinking about all the various permutations of the project, delight in it, dream big, and then, some of them return to not moving on it.

I once worked with someone who never seemed to complete anything, although she was first in line to critique and complain about every organizational issue under the sun. I had a wonderfully wise work colleague who used to say of this mutual coworker: "but Françoise, what you don't understand is that she feels as though complaining about the problem is indeed working on resolving the problem. It feels like progress to her and in facts takes quite a lot of energy out of her."

Sometimes, I think that job burnout can be a bit like that: the bitch sessions behind closed doors after a staff meeting give us the illusion of progress towards resolving the problems at hand but in truth we are not truly making progress on fixing the root cause of the problem, are we?

Anyhow, all of those thoughts were sparked from that quote and were not what I meant to write about!

Asking and Receiving:

I have been working on marketing resources and ideas to offer my Train the Trainer participants in November. One of the writing projects that is nearly complete is a booklet on "Developing and Delivering a Workshop for Helpers: 10 Key Steps." I will aim to finish this in the next few weeks and post it on my site (I will charge a small fee for it as it has taken a huge amount of time and energy to write). I guess this is meant to contradict the starting quote. This booklet has been collecting dust for about a year and now that it's back in live mode, it is completing itself surprisingly quickly...

During my research I came across Bill O'Hanlon's website: www.paidpublicspeaker.com
I saw that he was selling an ebook on becoming a paid public speaker. I was intrigued and wanted to know whether it would provide valuable material to my workshop attendees. But I don't necessarily need the book myself, so I sent him an email asking for a preview copy...

4 hours and 40 minutes later, the ebook was there, in my inbox!

Thanks Bill. Isn't that impressive and generous?

I will review the book for the blog in a few weeks. So far, it looks excellent but I prefer finishing my marketing booklet before reading it fully (I don't want to cross-contaminate what I am writing, writers among you will relate I suspect).

This is a tip for all of you out there interested in developing a workshop and wanting to preview books for it. Ask. Explain what your purpose is. You may very well receive.

Compassion Fatigue Train the Trainer Workshops:
2 courses being offered in the Fall


The One Day Course
London, On. September 17th, 2008
(Sponsored by Solutions on Site)


The Two Day Intensive Retreat
Kingston, On. November 13-14th, 2008
See below for more information

---
These Train the Trainer Workshops are designed to take you deep first, to gain a thorough understanding of your own relationship to CF, then go into the didactic details (what to teach, how to teach) and finally talk about the mechanics of the whole process (how to customize this for your own work needs/goals etc.).

If you wish to begin exploring the process of becoming a trainer and are looking for some tools to get started, the One day Course is a good start. If you are ready to become a Trainer, the Two day Course is best.

---
Compassion Fatigue Train the Trainer:
The One Day Course
Wednesday September 17th, 2008
Women's Community House, 450 Clarke Rd, London, On.
9:00 am-3:30 p.m.

Prerequisite: Participants must have completed prior training in Compassion Fatigue and/or Vicarious Trauma, ideally a minimum of one day CF training in the past and have a good working knowledge of the basic concepts related to compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.

Develop the skills and knowledge base to deliver a highly creative and practical Compassion Fatigue workshop in your agency or community. You will receive a training manual and the option for further coaching as you take the first steps to becoming a CF trainer.

Upon completing this course, you will have materials and resources to begin the process of designing your own training program. You may want further coaching/training from WHP as you hone your skills.

To register: contact Solutions On Site
Tel: 519-640-2030
Web: www.SOSworkshops.ca

---

Compassion Fatigue Train the Trainer Workshop
Two Day Intensive Retreat
Nov. 13-14th 2008

**Only 5 spaces left**

Great food, beautiful location. A nice starting point for a two day intensive retreat to become (or hone) your skills as a compassion fatigue trainer.

Registration Form can be downloaded from from WHP's website.

Workshop Size: Spaces is limited to a maximum of 20 participants (only 5 spaces left as of June 10th.)

Cost: $435 plus $45 for materials which includes training manuals, handout templates and power point on CD.
Total cost: $480.00 CAN incl gst.

To Register: Send a cheque, payable to WHP, in the amount of $100.00 to 837 Princess Street, Suite 300, Kingston, On. K7L 1G8 **balance of payment ($380.00) must be paid by October 1st to secure your enrollment. Please note that the $100.00 is not refundable. Cancellation policy is on our website.

Certificates of completion will be provided.

Prerequisites: This workshop is aimed at helping professionals and educators in the helping fields. No prior Compassion Fatigue training required but a basic working knowledge of the topic would be best (by reading some of the titles listed below ahead of time).

Workshop Description: Some past participants of our one day Compassion Fatigue workshop (Walking the Walk) expressed an interest in receiving help in designing a workshop to bring back to their communities and developing skills and knowledge base to deliver compassion fatigue workshops themselves. This train the trainer workshop offers tools, handouts, strategies, training material and marketing strategies to adapt Walking the Walk to your community's specific needs (and to your own presentation style). You do not need to have attended WtheW in the past to benefit from this training.

Because of the small size of the group, we will customize certain aspects of the training to your specific needs. A questionnaire will be sent ahead of time to establish your needs/goals and objectives and aim to fulfill as many of these as possible.

For more details and outline: www.compassionfatigue.ca or email WHP@cogeco.ca

It's official! The Train the Trainer Workshop on Compassion Fatigue is booked to run November 13-14th at the beautiful Donald Gordon Centre in Kingston.
[July 16th, 2008 - This workshop is now FULL - if you would like to be added to the mailing list for next year's training, email me clearly stating that you wish to be added to the Train the Trainer mailing list]
As an aside, I should tell you that the food at the Donald Gordon Centre is absolutely stupendous (and it's a wonderful location where participants are treated like VIPs). In fact: "The Financial Times (U.K.) has ranked the Donald Gordon Conference Centre number one in the world for food quality in a survey of international executive education centres." Link: www.dgc.queensu.ca

Great food, beautiful location. A nice starting point for a two day intensive retreat to become (or hone) your skills as a compassion fatigue trainer.

Here's more information on this upcoming workshop:

Compassion Fatigue Train the Trainer Workshop

Revised and Confirmed Dates: Thursday November 13th and Friday November 14th, 2008 at the Donald Gordon Centre in Kingston. (link: www.donaldgordoncentre.com)

**Accommodation: For those of you needing accommodation, the Donald Gordon Centre offers comfortable and affordable rooms for overnight stay. However, at the present time, there is no space on the Wednesday night (although this could very well change, and you can ask to be put on their waiting list) but there are still some beds available for the Thursday night. You should call the DGC asap if you wish to explore this option.) Otherwise, there are plenty of lovely B&Bs nearby and if you need accomodation info, I can send it to you.

Registration Form: If you decide to enroll for this event, please email me and I will send you a registration form.

Workshop Size: Spaces is limited to a maximum of 20 participants and will only run if at least 8 participants enroll (given the interest I have received after posting this for only 5 days, I am not particularly worried about it meeting the minimum number of participant requirement)

Cost: $435 plus $45 for materials which includes training manuals, handout templates and power point on CD.
Total cost: $480.00 CAN incl gst.

To Register: Send a cheque, payable to WHP, in the amount of $100.00 to 837 Princess Street, Suite 300, Kingston, On. K7L 1G8 **balance of payment ($380.00) must be paid by October 1st to secure your enrollment. Please note that the $100.00 is not refundable. Cancellation policy is on our website.

Certificates of completion will be provided.

Prerequisites: This workshop is aimed at helping professionals and educators in the helping fields. No prior Compassion Fatigue training required but a basic working knowledge of the topic would be best (by reading some of the titles listed below ahead of time).

Workshop Description: Some past participants of our one day Compassion Fatigue workshop (Walking the Walk) expressed an interest in receiving help in designing a workshop to bring back to their communities and developing skills and knowledge base to deliver compassion fatigue workshops themselves. This train the trainer workshop offers tools, handouts, strategies, training material and marketing strategies to adapt Walking the Walk to your community's specific needs (and to your own presentation style). You do not need to have attended WtheW in the past to benefit from this training.

Because of the small size of the group, we will customize certain aspects of the training to your specific needs. A questionnaire will be sent ahead of time to establish your needs/goals and objectives and aim to fulfill as many of these as possible.

Day one will be experiential (you will participate in a one day CF workshop) and Day two will discuss tools, strategies and techniques to develop and deliver the workshops on your own and become a CF educator and trainer.

What differentiates this workshop from other educational sessions out there is the extra layer of understanding and validation that we hope to convey to our workshop participants. Therefore, the train the trainer workshop is designed to take you deep first, to gain a true and thorough understanding of your own relationship to CF. Then we go into the didactic details (what to teach, how to teach) and finally talk about the mechanics of the whole process (how to customize this for your own work needs/goals etc.)

Commitment on your part:
-fill out questionnaire ahead of time and return no later than October 1st
-fill out the reflection section of the workbook before attending the workshop

Detailed outline:

We will be using the Walking the Walk training manual:

-What are Compassion Fatigue, Caregiver Stress, Vicarious Traumatization and burnout
-Signs and symptoms of CF/VT/Burnout
-Assessment tools
-Warning signs
-Resiliency skills
-Self Care Strategies
-Academy of traumatology standards of Ethics
-How to offer psychoeducation on this topic
-Experiential activities that work with audiences
-How to design your own workshop: what is your target audience
-Lessons I have learned during the past 7+ years of offering these workshops

and more...


Recommended Reading: If you would like to read ahead, I would recommend:

Transforming the pain by pearlman and saakvitne - a nice little workbook on designing VT workshops

Trauma and the Therapist by Pearlman

Secondary Traumatic Stress by Beth Stamm

Compassion Fatigue and Treating Compassion Fatigue. 2 books by Charles Figley

Help for the Helper by Babette Rothschild

50 strategies to simplify your life: Patrick Fanning

Take time for your life by Cheryl Richardson

A therapist's guide to self care by lillie weiss


I would also suggest you surf the net and read anything from the Headington Institute and Figley Institute.

A great place to start is to visit my website: www.compassionfatigue.ca and read the articles I have written (Running on empty and 12 Self Care Strategies) as well as visit my blog weekly.

Directions: For those of you interested but wondering where in the heck is Kingston, Ontario? We are midway between Toronto and Montreal and about 2 hours north of Syracuse, NY. You can fly to any of these destinations and then drive or take a train to Kingston. The easiest way to get here is to Fly to Montreal and then take the free shuttle to the train (a 5 minute ride). The train schedule can be viewed: www.viarail.ca. You can also fly to Toronto and take a 45 minute shuttle to Union train station. It is then a 2 hour train ride to Kingston.


Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Françoise

A few weeks ago I bought a new desk for work. Apparently it was the wrong height and now I have some manifestation of carpal tunnel/messed up wrists. Darn. So I will make these next few posts very brief in order to rescue the wrists. Not easy when you type for a living (well, type and talk, so I'll talk more and type less this week).

On Weds, I will be confirming the dates/space details for November 2008's Train the trainer workshop in Kingston. I have already received several emails from interested potential participants which is great considering that we are in March. I will likely have to cap the audience size at 15-20 depending on the room. More info on this shortly.

I am on my way to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto today to present to their Trauma Unit. If you have a few spare moments, google this venerable institution and take a look at their work. Can you say "leaders in the field" ten times fast? They are the bees knees in acute trauma work, burn unit and overall emergency care. I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to meet them.

Friday I am back in Toronto presenting to a group of special ed teachers. This is a full day workshop which is always very enjoyable as we get to really "get into it" and hash it all out.

It's probably Spring for some of you. For those of us up here in the slushy north, take heart, we'll get there eventually!