May 12, 2019 |

Christine Hogan – Interactive storytelling techniques: Making myths meaningful and memorable

In this workshop, participants will be involved interactively with the story teller using traditional myths from many different cultures which focus on diversity.

We will discuss how these myths may be used and/or adapted to a variety of different learning contexts and cultural settings. We will engage actively in storytelling and also in:

  • identifying fun and various ways of using myths in a variety of learning situations
  • ways of debriefing myths so they are memorable as part of behaviour change
  • creating a variety of “endings” to myths.

Myths from different cultures enable us all to gain new, different and deeper insights and perspectives into our work, health and well-being. Moreover, myths have resonance and their teachings are memorable and even change over time.

Participants will leave the workshop with:

  • Interactive and new story telling techniques
  • Myths from Brazil, Thailand, Bhutan and Indonesia
  • A variety of de-briefing strategies for facilitators to use in behaviour change.

May 12, 2019 |

Ivan Chew – Our Perceptions of Wellbeing – An Interactive Dive

Using a mixture of improv-based activities, some design thinking and collaborative reflection, Ivan will help uncover the hidden beliefs and truths of what wellbeing means to different workplace archetypes. A high level strategy to enact the shift in behaviours to achieve those buried health goals will be explored as well.

The workplace is composed of not just the human interaction but also the physical built environment. The perception and use of those environment can either nurture, hinder or reward us with a greater sense of physical, mental and social wellbeing and in turn, a better end result for the organisation meeting their strategy.

About Ivan Chew:

Culture eats Strategy for breakfast – our behaviour shapes our experiences and interactions with our human, man-made and natural environments. From experiences as a Senior Workplace Strategist, construction Project Manager, coach, stage performer and puppeteer in organisations from the ABC, NSW Department of Finance and the private sector, a mix of skills can work in synergy – just like any workforce; you just need to find the connections. Currently completing a postgraduate course in psychology, Ivan brings a mix of play, perception and process to help those who seek it in the corporate and personal space.

May 11, 2019 |

Kate Lawrence -The Story is In the Details

After introducing the basics of story structure and the crafting process, participants will chose a personal memory they want to work on, and in groups of four, they will play a Story Game using this memory.

This game has been developed from experience coaching and crafting stories. It has been used many times in workshops with great feedback. The game is aimed at eliciting both the details and crafting nuances that create great story ‘telling’, and the depth of reflection and meaning making that makes a story meaningful.

This workshop will see you leaving with: A basket full of colour and movement from your memories, an experience of exploring the elements that go into making a story, listening as three others do the same, and a deeper understanding and connection to your own history, who you are and where you have come from.

About  Kate Lawrence:

By the circuitous route of local government, community engagement and disaster preparedness, Kate Lawrence, who spent 17 years as a community lawyer, working for community legal centres and Victoria Legal Aid, is now a wee bit one-eyed about enabling human connection and understanding through through story, circle, purpose and play. Kate has deep and wide experience with these processes and passionately believes that can we use them to humanise the workplace. She is also an experienced performing storyteller and TEDx speaker.

May 11, 2019 |

Melony dos Remedios – Rewriting Your Fitness Story

Narratives about our own physicality and capability can impact our ability to engage in activities that bring us health. How many of us were told that “we were no good at sports” or “we run like a girl” In this workshops, Mel will provide you with proven tools to rewrite the story and apply a new strategy to your fitness empowering you to fall in love with a new story and a new lifestyle.

Movement is essential to wellbeing and longevity. This workshop will help provide you:

  • A new understanding of HOW your fitness story impacts you now.
  • Clarity on your Movement Style with a clear plan on how to fall in love with MOVEMENT to create lasting change.

About  Melony dos Remedios:

Mel is the owner and CEO of PT Academy. She’s spent the last 20 years helping people achieve their lifestyle and business goals. She has worked in senior management and leadership roles within the fitness industry and continues to be an in-demand speaker, trainer and coach on corporate health. Mel has qualifications as lifestyle coach and is an accredited NLP practitioner and has been a professional fitness competitor.

May 11, 2019 |

David Newman – Building storylines of health and well-being out of the smallest of actions

As Michael White, one of the originators of Narrative Therapy said; ‘people are never passive recipients to trauma, people are always responding to what they have been put through’.

Yet there are many ways action and responses people make to address difficulties in their lives gets categorised or dismissed.

This workshop will explore ways to honour, not dismiss or categorise such action. In considering the part that Narrative Practice can play in such an honouring, the workshop will cover three themes: a. Some of the discourses and practices that can take us away from an honouring of response b. An exploration of some of the delicate work of locating the small steps and responses people make in the face of hardship c. How to build stories of health and well-being from such small actions and responses

About David Newman:

David is a member of the Dulwich Centre faculty, one of the ‘homes’ of ‘Narrative Therapy’, and an Honorary Clinical Fellow at Melbourne University’s School of Social Work. Recent teaching assignments have included Rwanda, Brazil, Nepal, Greece, Turkey, Hong Kong and Palestine and he is a teacher on the Masters of Narrative Therapy and Community Work. He works in Sydney in independent practice at Sydney Narrative Therapy as well as in ‘Uspace’, a psychiatric unit for young people. David is the author of many papers about Narrative Therapy including ‘Rescuing the Said from the Saying of it: Living Documentation in Narrative Therapy’ and is working on a book with a draft title ‘Narrative Practice with young people and their families in a psychiatric setting’.

May 11, 2019 |

Chris Harrison – Giving purpose and meaning to a traumatic experience

The personal stories of Road Trauma Survivors can help shape the beliefs and behaviours of drivers who attend the groups:

  • Stories involve us in personal, emotional ways, which is different from how we respond to facts and statistics
  • This emotional power is the key to igniting action and bringing about a change in beliefs and attitudes –
  • The use of metaphor and analogy help bridge the emotional and cognitive meaning of a story
  • Stories allow us to simulate and learn from events without having to live through the experience

Those involved in a traumatic experience often have a strong need to share their experience to make a difference and by doing so this gives them purpose and meaning. It assists them in creating a new post trauma story, identity and role and assists in their own recovery and healing. This workshop will look at the benefits of those who share their personal stories of road trauma and the model it is done within so as not to retraumatise themselves or those they share with.

About Chris Harrison:

Chris has spent more than 30 years’ working as a counselor in the fields of substance use, family and youth and in education and training. For the past 12 years Chris has worked in road safety, currently the Manager of Education Services at Road Trauma Support Services Vic (RTSSV). RTSSV is based on Stories and she is continually inspired by those she works with who want to make a difference after a traumatic experience

May 11, 2019 |

Christine Carlton – The Inside Story to Wellbeing

“The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them and learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each others’ memory. This is how people care for themselves.” —Barry Lopez, Crow and Weasel

Within all of us are stories waiting to be told – stories that can affirm, challenge and provide insights to help us and others develop understanding, connection, empathy, resilience and promote health and wellbeing. In this practical, participatory workshop we will explore how we invite people to give voice to the stories that say something about what we value, what’s challenging, humorous and inspiring for us.

Storytelling is not only a pleasurable activity for the listener and teller, it also can be a process for developing confidence and wellbeing in the workplace, family and community. This workshop will provide you with simple processes to unearth stories that contribute to the wellbeing of individuals and groups.

About Christine Carlton:

Christine Carlton has worked for over thirty years as a freelance Facilitator, Storyteller, and Consultant in Story and Drama in Education and Community Development. Throughout Australia and overseas she enables people to explore possibilities for their own creativity and leadership. Christine offers storytelling workshops with adults and children, facilitates leadership and team-building processes; professional development training, teacher in-service and reflective retreats. She is regularly called upon to provide creative leadership and group facilitation and be storyteller in residence at state and national conferences.

May 11, 2019 |

Todd Montgomery – What’s Your Phoenix Factor – lessons learned from stories of overcoming adversity

Resilience is a hot topic, defined as the ability to bounce back from adversity. Phoenix Factor is something more. It’s your capacity to endure adversity – even to be overwhelmed by it – and to use those experiences to be reborn stronger than you were before. We all have this ability and, like a muscle, it develops with use. Join us to discover your Phoenix Factor and what it means for you: how strong yours is now and how you can grow it. We’ll talk about when we’ve fallen on our faces and bounced back, as well as sharing the lessons we learned that helped us to forge new paths and fresh directions. Learn today how a strong Phoenix Factor will enhance and enrich your own quest for personal and professional wellbeing.

Resilience-based skills such as Phoenix Factor have wide-ranging application to people’s endeavours at home and at work, personally and as part of groups. Crucially for this conference, it’s something best discovered and then developed via stories of both failure and success, which makes it both an individual capacity and a basis for deeper social connection.

Attending this workshop will help you:

  • Learn what Phoenix Factor is – how it relates (and differs from) resilience, how strong yours is and what it takes to develop it further
  • Talk about stories in order to recast “failure” as “learning” in meaningful ways
  • Gain practical tools and action steps to further personal development journeys

About Todd Montgomery:

Todd is the Founder of “Surfing Saved My Life – A Positive Change Story,” which promotes positive mental health practice and gives people the skills they need to have conversations about the things that are hardest to talk about. His surf-powered comeback story is equally dedicated to helping people learn ways to expand their innate resilience – their Phoenix Factor – and tap into their passions to get more out of life. He also writes and works in the areas of human behaviour and change in his consultancy Postive ChangeWorks. Todd is a Canadian-Australian who lives (and surfs!!) in Sydney’s Northern Beaches and is also a classically-trained chef, food experience designer and experienced mixologist.

May 11, 2019 |

What’s Your Story? Revealing the change in late night culture one story at a time.

What’s Your Story? aims to improve the drinking culture of young adults aged between 18-24 years who frequent late night entertainment precincts by collecting and sharing stories. These stories highlight positive social norms regarding alcohol culture which could potentially disrupt current drinking patterns for this group.

The session will provide an opportunity for participants to:

  • Understand the method of story collection used
  • Interact with the material collected
  • View a collection of video’s where young people provide their insight and experiences regarding their alcohol consumption.
  • Reflect on the use of story to encourage change and promote health messages to young people
  • Hear about the findings of the project

The collection of over 180 stories provided the premise for understanding the current nature of alcohol culture within nightlife environments in Melbourne, Prahran and St Kilda. The process of storytelling was made up of several different components including character development, emotional connection as well as getting lost in the narrative. It has been through this process that young people had the opportunity to consider their and their friends drinking. We found that connection through narrative is more powerful that traditional health promotion approaches like posters and coasters. This project is one of nine projects funded by VicHealth under the Alcohol Culture Change Initiative (ACCi). It is a partnership project between the City of Melbourne, City of Port Phillip and City of Stonnington with research partners Monash University and Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre.

About your Workshop Leaders:

Maria Plakourakis from City of Melbourne and Julia McCusker from the City of Port Phillip, will co-present the findings about what’s important to community when visiting Melbourne at night and what bearing this has on Melbourne’s entertainment offer, activities within Melbourne’s entertainment precincts and managing demands. The project team consists of representatives from the Cities of Port Phillip, Melbourne and Stonnington. Maria is represented on the project team for the What’s Your Story Alcohol Culture Change Project overseeing its implementation.

Maria Plakourakis has worked as an educator in schools and has extensive experience Coordinating suicide prevention programs and facilitating links to services within the South East region of Victoria.  Maria commenced at the City of Melbourne in November 2006.  Her initial focus was as a Social Planner and Executive Coordinator of the Melbourne Licensees Forum, where she focused on building relationships between local authorities and this business sector, to reduce crime, violence and alcohol related harm.   Maria is currently Senior Policy Officer – City Safety at the City of Melbourne.  She coordinates research and delivers initiatives that relate to Melbourne’s Night Time Economy and advocates for strategic alcohol and other drug harm reduction policy and activities.

Over the last two decades the City of Melbourne has built a strong foundation on which to respond to issues of community safety. Melbourne’s nightlife culture is changing and this has some correlation on the changing attitudes to alcohol.  Young people aged between 18 to 24 years told us their stories about what makes a great night out in our entertainment precincts.  These reflections provide a rich tapestry of information from which to promote messages that are surprising and reveal a deeper narrative.

May 10, 2019 |

Sophie Weldon – The Future of Belonging

The Future of Belonging is an exploratory session for those who want to understand how stories can lead to reducing isolation and loneliness, one of the biggest health challenges of our time. Sophie Weldon from Humankind Enterprises will present the award-winning storytelling programs she and her team have developed to build a future of belonging and how their innovative StoryPod tool is enabling thousands of people to be heard and share their story.

This workshop will help you gain:

  • Inspiration for how to use storytelling and story-listening to create social change
  • Awareness about the power of social connection and why we all have a responsibility to build connection in our communities and workplaces
  • Innovative program ideas to help diverse communities share their story and increase their social connections
  • Motivation to further help create the Future of Belonging

About Sophie Weldon:

Sophie Weldon is Founder and Managing Director of Humankind Enterprises. She has expertise in strategic storytelling for social change, community engagement and embedding social connection principles and tactics within communities and organisations. She believes in the fundamental value, joy and challenge of human connection, the power of intergenerational learning, and the catalytic role of storytelling to build social bonds belonging.