Symposium

The annual Living Health, Balance & Hope Symposium educates, advocates and celebrates mental health and wellness.
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Practicing Forgiveness 
A Meaningful Approach to Healthy Living

Thursday, May 30, 2024 • 8:00AM - 4:00PM CDT • 6 CEUs • $175
Valparaiso University/Harre Union • 1509 Chapel Drive • Valparaiso

Multiple Ways to Spend Your Day:
Keynote Breakfast • Full / Partial Day Workshop • Group Discounts Available!

 

Keynote Breakfast Presentation • 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Did you know that being a forgiving person can help you live a longer and healthier life? Research shows that forgiveness is linked to better mental and physical health, improved happiness, and can even increase your life expectancy as you age.

Yet, forgiveness can be a challenge. We can be stressed by the ways that people treat us, injustices that occur in our families or workplaces, and may often find it difficult to forgive ourselves for decisions or actions we have taken.

In this keynote presentation, Dr. Loren Toussaint will discuss the importance of forgiveness and its benefits – for others and ourselves. We will explore our capacity to forgive, our hesitancy to do so and the impact of forgiveness on our health and well-being. You will leave with an awareness of steps you can take to practice forgiveness and flourish in today’s world. 

Forgiving Others: Clinical Applications Session 1 • 10:00 a.m – 12:00 p.m.

Forgiveness is a complex and multi-faceted construct and there can be much confusion around it. Forgiveness is also a familiar theme that clinicians encounter in therapy while helping people navigate adverse experiences. In this session, we will discuss leading approaches for helping people learn how to practice forgiveness and learn forgiveness coping strategies to utilize in clinical practice.  

 

Self-Forgiveness: Clinical Applications Session 2 • 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Broad reviews of self-forgiveness research suggest that self-forgiveness has even stronger connections to health outcomes than forgiveness of others. In clinical practice, we often address clients’ strong feelings of self-blame and regret when they are unable to forgive themselves. As clinicians, we also encounter this dynamic when reflecting on our work with others. This session focuses on incorporating self-forgiveness strategies in our work with clients, clinical supervision, and ourselves. 

 

Forgiveness and Flourishing Session 3 • 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Forgiveness is a productive coping strategy that often brings clarity and resolution to experiences that function as obstacles to client’s healing processes. The process and practice of forgiving others and oneself reduces negative effects of stress on mental health and well-being. These are valuable tools to use with our clients and in our own personal and professional development. This session will focus on the research that identifies forgiveness as a key ingredient to a healthy approach to life and enhanced overall flourishing.

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Educational Objectives
• Develop an understanding of the many facets of forgiveness and its usefulness in clinical practice.
• Learn key strategies to help clients navigate the complexities of forgiving others.   
• Incorporate practices of self-forgiveness to help clients and clinicians process and shift cognitive patterns that keep them stuck.

• Apply research on the practice and benefits of forgiveness as a significant link to mental and physical health, well-being and flourishing.


Continuing Education Units
The Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services Licensing Board has approved this organization to provide Category I Continuing Education for LSW, LCSW, LMFT, LMHC, LAC, LCAC and HSPP. However, licensees must judge the program's relevance to their professional practice. Indiana CEU Provider #98000555A. HSPP Provider #98000597A. All CEUs will be distributed at the conclusion of the event. 
 

Registration is open!

Sponsors

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NorthShore Health Centers, Inc

Donors

  • First Trust Credit Union
  • John D. Peyton
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About the Living Health, Balance & Hope Symposium

Hosted annually by the Porter-Starke Services Foundation, the Living Health, Balance & Hope Symposium educates, advocates, and celebrates mental health and wellness. Featuring leaders and innovators from the field of mental health, our forum of clinicians, sponsors, and the community creates a ripple effect of health, balance and hope within and beyond Northwest Indiana!
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