8212 118 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5B 0S3
Phone 780 471 1122 Fax 780 479 2579
www.catholicsocialservices.ab.ca
FAMILY LIVING PROGRAM 2014 WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
For more information or to register, please contact Kari Boult at
780 420 6081 or kari.boult@catholicsocialservices.ab.ca
Payment plans and/or limited subsidies may be available.
Handling Anger Level One
Dates offered:
$300 / person
February 13 – April 17
April 24 – June 26
July 24 – September 25
October 2 – December 4
Ten Thursday evenings from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm at Catholic Social Services East
Office (8212 – 118 Avenue in Room 035).
Do you find yourself feeling like you are ready to explode too often? Do you feel you just want
to scream, hurt someone or break something? Are your relationships and work starting to
deteriorate because of your feelings and actions? Feeling angry is normal, although how you
express anger can impact your life in sometimes unhealthy ways. This workshop is designed to
help you learn how to handle your anger effectively. The goal is to learn to express anger in a
healthy way without hurting others, yourself or your relationships. Anger may be linked to the
way you think or perceive situations. You will learn to use “I” statements to take responsibility for
your feelings. You will also learn to identify your thoughts, feelings and behaviours when you
are angry and understand how to communicate them effectively. By the end of the program,
you will have practised and begun to integrate new behaviours in communication and personal
problem solving. You will learn to become aware of the factors that may be “triggers” for your
anger. Topics included are: anger and its uses, sources of anger, understanding the anger
cycle, becoming familiar with what makes you angry, learning alternative ways of expressing
anger and dealing with rage, and learning how to use anger appropriately to enhance your
relationships at work and in your personal life. Facilitator(s): Irene Mitrowka or Debbie Hart
Mindfulness & Mastery of Emotions Level One
Dates offered:
$250 / person
February 24 – April 14
August 11 - October 6
Eight Monday evenings from 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm at Catholic Social Services South
Office (8815 – 99 Street in the 3rd Floor Boardroom).
Do you feel easily overwhelmed by and react strongly to emotions? Do you find it hard, as a
result, to build healthy relationships? In this program you will learn to develop skills in paying
full attention to your "uncontrollable" emotions, thoughts and sensations and, learn to master
your emotions more effectively. This will enable you to enhance your social and occupational
functioning and thus, build a more peaceful relationship not only with yourself, but others. The
PROGRAMS OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL SERVICES
SERVING PEOPLE OF ALL FAITHS AND CULTURES
Catholic Social Services
main objective is for you to learn and refine skills in changing behavioural, emotional, and
thinking patterns towards healthier emotional living. Some of the behaviours to be decreased
will include thought distortions, uncontrollable emotions, impulsive reactions and interpersonal
chaos. At the same time, you will learn and practise core mindfulness, distress tolerance,
emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness skills. Mindfulness is “paying attention in
a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally” (by Kabat-Zinn).
Facilitator: Diana Yiu
Creating a Positive Perspective / Overcoming Depression & Adversity
Level One
$300 / person
Dates offered:
February 25 – April 29
September 23 - December 2
Ten Tuesday evenings from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm at Catholic Social Services East Office
(8212 – 118 Avenue in Room 035 - March 18 in the Genesis Room).
Do you find yourself thinking about how bad things are? Do you feel little excitement, joy or
anticipation in the things you typically like to do? Are you feeling stuck with little hope that life
will be better? Do you feel alone? Do you want to make changes and move forward? This
program may help you to understand what is holding you in a negative place. You will learn
about how you feel about yourself and where those feelings come from. You will learn to
examine your beliefs, attitudes, thoughts, feelings, and perceptions to increase your awareness.
With this awareness, you can decide what you may want to change. Through this workshop you
will learn skills to help change negative thinking to positive thinking patterns. There will be
discussion and exercises on topics such as measuring your moods, identifying your personal
goals, modifying negative thoughts, and building self-esteem. You will work towards learning to
enjoy greater happiness, embrace hope, be more productive, and improve your day-to-day life.
The "Ten Days to Self-Esteem" Workbook AND the "Feeling Good Handbook" by David
D. Burns, M.D. are both included in this workshop and this will provide you with some of the
tools for change. This 10-week program gives you the opportunity to look for solutions and
make changes towards increasing your emotional wellness. Remember you FEEL the way you
THINK, you can CHANGE the way you FEEL, and the way you BEHAVE. Facilitator: Debbie
Hart.
Couples Communication
Dates offered:
$350 / couple
April 23 - June 25
October 1 – December 3
Ten Wednesday evenings from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm at Catholic Social Services East
Office (8212 – 118 Avenue in Room 035).
Do you want to reconnect with your partner? Is your relationship not as strong or meaningful as
you would like it to be? Learn practical and effective communication techniques to make your
relationship the formula for success. Explore your differences and learn to support each others’
dreams and goals. Find out if you are truly “listening” to “hear” what your partner has to say.
This ten week program includes topics such as rebuilding a healthy foundation for your
relationship, strengthening and developing new skills in communication, problem solving,
learning how to “turn towards each other” instead of away, building intimacy, and strengthening
the positive perspective in your relationship. Included is “The Seven Principles for Making
Marriage Work” by John M. Gottman for each of you to start reconnecting with your
partner! Facilitator: Irene Mitrowka
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Catholic Social Services
Setting Healthy Boundaries
Dates offered:
$250 / person
May 6 – July 15
Ten Tuesday evenings) from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm at Catholic Social Services East
Office (8212 – 118 Avenue in Room 035).
Do you feel that people take advantage of you? Are you feeling obligated to “do the right thing”
and feeling angry, resentful or frustrated afterward? Do you feel alone, misunderstood and that
others are inconsiderate of your wants and needs? These feelings may stem from how you set
boundaries with yourself and with others. A boundary is a limit that you set for what are
respectful ways for others to behave around you. Having an awareness of boundaries and limits
will help you to discover what may be important to you and help you to define a healthy sense of
self, including your values, beliefs, thoughts, decisions, choices and experiences. In your dayto-day experiences, you have many opportunities for growth, including physical, mental,
emotional and spiritual realms. Awareness of your boundaries helps in growth personally and
professionally. This 10-week program gives you the opportunity to explore who you are, what
you need, how to communicate needs in a constructive way, and strengthen your relationship
with yourself and with others. This program is designed to help you handle the daily demands
of life in a way that protects your time and energy for the things that matter. It can help you to
be clearer about what to include and what to leave out, so that you can fill the spaces of your life
with the people, activities, and pursuits that are meaningful to you. Facilitator: Debbie Hart
Facilitators:
Irene Mitrowka has several certificates in the area of facilitation and group presentation. Irene
has acquired her Life Management Skills training from Grant MacEwan Community College in
1993 as a Life Skills Coach. Irene has also received her certificate in Personality Dimensions
and Service Best training in 2002/03 and received training from Gordon Training International
for Assertive Training and Parent Effectiveness Training. Irene has over 20 years extensive
experience in group facilitation and is caring, compassionate and dedicated to facilitating skills
that are essential in making life changes in how individuals communicate. Irene also has over
10 years experience helping couples to communicate more effectively.
Debbie Hart has participated in the facilitation of many psycho-educational workshops within
Catholic Social Services such as Handling Anger, Setting Healthy Boundaries, Couples
Communication and Overcoming Depression. She currently facilitates Suicide Intervention
workshops using the ASIST model. She is involved in educational growth with university
courses primarily relating to psychology. She is enthusiastic, dedicated, energetic, skilled,
motivated and highly effective at planning, organizing and facilitating various group workshops.
Diana Yiu, M.S.S.W., R.S.W., Clinical Registry. Diana’s area of specialization include addiction
and mental health, marriage and family therapy, intercultural and spiritual counselling. In the
past decade, Diana has been involved in the study and practice of Dialectical Behavioral
Therapy (DBT), using mindfulness training as a base to help build skills including distress
tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. She has a special interest in
working with people of different personality types such as having borderline, avoidant and
dependent traits and people experiencing depression and anxiety.
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Catholic Social Services
You Just Don’t Get It
$50 / person
Call 780 471 1122 ext. 2557 for the next dates.
Parents and Teens: Do you find yourselves having the same conversation over and over or
arguing about the same issue without getting any results? Are you tired of that yet? You
Just Don’t Get It is an introductory communication and conflict resolution workshop for
Parents and Teens. On the first night, you and your teen will learn skills in communication
such as how to appropriately express yourself and gain a better understanding of others and
to help you become a better listener. On the second night you and your teen will learn skills
to help identify your conflict styles and develop a step by step plan for resolving conflict and
solving problems. Facilitators: Mediators from the Parent Teen Mediation program who are
trained professionals skilled in communication and conflict resolution.
To register or to get more information for this program ONLY –
call 780 471 1122 ext. 2557
to speak with the Parent Teen Mediation Program Coordinator.
Workshop Registration: Registrations are taken on a first come, first served basis. Register early to reserve your place in the
workshop. (Catholic Social Services reserves the right to cancel scheduled workshops if a minimum number of registrants is not
achieved. Full refunds will be issued in such instances).
Refund Policy: Refunds will only be issued if a workshop registration is cancelled at least (7) days prior to the start of a workshop.
A $50 administration fee will be charged for cancellations. NO refunds will be made for non-attendance at workshops.
How to Register: Call 780 420 6081 to register or you can drop by the office (8212 – 118 Avenue) and speak with the Family
Living Program Coordinator. We accept Visa, MasterCard, Debit Card, Money Order, Cheque and / or Post-Dated Cheques or
Cash.
Fees: Our workshops are affordable; we can set up a payment plan that works for you.
Special Note: You must be 18 years of age to register for a workshop.
Workshop Leadership: Our workshop facilitators have post-secondary education in Social Work, Psychology, Marital and Family
Therapy, Education, or Life Management Skills Certification. Your facilitator has extensive experience and is a team leader with
skills and education in group process, leadership skills, and crisis intervention.
At Catholic Social Services, we value our community and respect your privacy. Please note that we do not share or sell any of your
personal information. If you do not wish to be on our contact email list, please reply to this message and your information will be
removed. Thank you for your continuing support.
Courses and/or course dates are subject to change without notice. If you would like to be added to our email mailing list please
email me directly at kari.boult@catholicsocialservices.ab.ca
Limited subsidies are available
and supported by:
The Sign of Hope Campaign and the
Edmonton Community Adult
Learning Association.
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