Janet Edmunson -- Author, Speaker

T E S T I M O N I A L
"Janet's presentation felt like a blood transfusion to a weary social worker! Thank you!"
-- Paula Draper, Nashville, TN

Janet Edmunson is available for speaking engagements. She speaks on several topics and can adjust content and length to fit the needs of your organization.

Current presentation topics include:

Inspiration
- Affirm Yourself for Life's Challenges
- Affirm Yourself for Personal and Professional Excellence Workshop
Caregiving support and information
- Affirmations for Caregivers and Those They Care For
- For Parkinson's and Other Movement Disorder Groups as well as Caregiver Groups
- For Dementia Caregiver Groups
- For Bereavement Groups
- For Hospice Groups
- For Long Term Care Professionals
Health and wellness in the workplace
- Positive Emotions and High Performing Workplaces Workshop
Leadership
- Learning from Charles

To Request Janet to Speak

To request Janet to speak at your conference, organization or company, email Janet.

Affirm Yourself for Life's Challenges

In this popular presentation, Janet shares a number of her affirmations to uplift and inspire listeners in their life's journey. In the process, she reveals insights into how to make meaning out of the difficulties and unique opportunities life affords. She'll illustrate the affirmations using moving personal stories as well as poignant quotes. The affirmations she'll address include the following:

I am committing to live my mission every day
I am determined to reach my goals
I am mentoring others, as even the smallest support can change a life
I have a reservoir of strength within me

Her goal is for listeners to learn how to lift themselves up as well as to lift up others.

Affirm Yourself for Personal and Professional Excellence Workshop

In this 3 hour workshop, Janet will help participants jumpstart their inspiration for developing personal and professional excellence. Organizations are only as effective as the individuals who work in them. By using affirmations to focus on personal development, this session helps participants ignite new energy and explore what is most important to regain passion for their work. Through this process, they'll discover how to make their life and work more meaningful and their influence on others more powerful. Through exploratory exercises, participants will learn how to:

Re-define their life's focus
Affirm themselves to actually reach the goals they set
Inspire and mentor others to reach their potential
Tackle challenges by drawing from the reservoir of strength they have within

Affirmations for Caregivers and Those They Care For

Janet presents a number of her affirmations to uplift those caring for a loved one along with those they are caring for. She uses stirring stories from her experience caring for her husband, Charles, during his five year struggle with a degenerative neurological disease. The affirmations she shares focus around the emotional and relationship side of dealing with chronic or degenerative illnesses. If requested, her presentation can also include practical information on how to work with doctors, professional caregivers, and other family members.

Janet tailors the affirmations she addresses to the particular disease and symptoms that the group typically faces. With all the affirmations she gives, she illustrates them with personal stories from Charles and her experience.

For Parkinson's and Other Movement Disorders Groups as well as Caregiver Groups

I will respect our differences in order to overcome conflicts
I will explore life's adventurs together to store up fond memories that will sustain me
I will hold on to my passions because they are the essence of who I am
I am determined to reach my goals
I will give myself credit for staying strong, despite being pushed to my limits
I will give myself grace when I occasionally blow it
I will look for the gifts that only this type of challenge can afford
I will make meaning out of this disease

Janet has the unique talent of speaking to the caregiver as well as the ill person.

For Dementia Caregiver Groups

In addition to the appropriate affirmations listed above, Janet will include the following when speaking to groups caring for someone with dementia.

I will remember that the difficult personality changes are not my loved one -- they are the disease
It's perfectly normal to grieve even before my loved one dies
I will let the love flow, even when all else is lost
I will accept that some people will find it difficult to visit my loved one. That's okay -- it doesn't mean that they've stopped caring.

For Bereavement Groups

Janet will share the following affirmations when speaking to groups dealing with the grief of having lost a loved one.

I will welcome my tears, as they honor my loved one
I won't be angry when others don't meet my expectations for support -- it doesn't mean they stopped caring
It's okay to mourn what might have been
I will honor new insights, without letting them pull me down
I will make it easier to get through difficult times by creating traditions to memorialize my loved one
I will wrap myself in the comfort of others' reflections
I will trust that the fog WILL lift
I will not feel guilty that I am moving on
I will work to make meaning out of the tragedy of this death

For Hospice Groups

For Hospice organizations, Janet typically speaks to the interdisciplinary teams as well as at events for Hospice volunteers. She describes Charles' neurological disease and the unique aspects Hospice workers needed to consider when caring for him. She describes the wonderful Hospice experience she and Charles had and the role each of the Hospice workers contributed to their quality of life during this very difficult time. She finishes her presentation with affirmations that are applicable to issues pertaining to the end of life. These affirmations can not only uplift the Hospice worker but can also be used by them to uplift the patients and families they are caring for. These include:

It's perfectly normal to grieve even before your loved one dies
Look for the gifts that only this type of tragedy can afford
Remember the difficult personality changes are not your loved one -- they are the disease
Make it easier to get through difficult times by creating traditions to memorialize your loved one
I will welcome my tears, as they honor my loved one
Let the love flow, even when all else is lost

Two of Janet's workshops for Hospice workers are available as videos via Hospice On Line. Click on the links below to read the descriptions of these videos:
#1 Caring for Atypical Parkinson's Patients and Their Families
#2 Finding Meaning from Loss

For Long Term Care Professionals

Affirm Yourself for Long Term Care Challenges. Each new long term care patient presents unique issues that can challenge even professional caregivers. Janet presents ideas and solutions for these distinctive care needs by using poignant stories, affirmations and personal exploration. You'll walk away inspired and renewed in working with your patients and their families.

Positive Emotions and High Performing Workplaces Workshop

Depression and poor emotional health have been shown to be the most costly medical expense among employees. Thinking patterns, including pessimism, inflexibility, and mindless reactivity are risk factors for these problems. However, research in positive psychology demonstrates that healthier thinking styles can be learned that foster creativity, engagement and resilience. This workshop explores this exciting research as it applies to high performing workplaces and individual employee effectiveness. The webinar uses science, personal stories and practical, hands-on exercises to establish an awareness of the power of emotional health. It also helps build new skills in applying positive psychology in the workplace and in everyday life.

Participants will:

Learn scientifically validated understandings of positive emotions and their impact on individual and workplace performance
Identify strategies and examples of ways to decrease negative emotional patterns and increase positive emotions personally and within their work teams
Explore practical positive psychology techniques that can immediately apply to their life and work and can be systematically practiced in a way that leads to excellence in performance

Janet teaches this workshop with John Weaver, Psy.D, Director, The Healthy Thinking Initiative. See more about Dr. Weaver at www.preventing depression.com.

Learning from Charles

A popular talk she gives currently is entitled, "Learning from Charles."

Though he died at the age of 50, Janet's husband, Charles, inspired others to reach their potential. Living each day with passionate enthusiasm, Charles sought to make a difference in people's lives by believing in them and expecting the best from them.

In this presentation, Janet describes five life principles that she has learned from Charles.

They include:

Live your mission,
Build relationships,
Give grace,
Be determined to reach your goals, and
Value others.

Weaving personal stories to explain these principles, Janet touches a chord that inspires us all.