2018

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Carpenter, Regi

Regi Carpenter utilizes storytelling, reflective writing and deep listening techniques in workshops designed to teach caregivers how narrative therapy can deepen their practice and help clients build resilience, resourcefulness, self-care and better coping strategies. For over twenty years, Regi Carpenter has been utilizing the power of stories to motivate, inspire, energize and focus individuals in corporate, academic and non-profit settings. Her keynotes and workshops uplift people as they are reminded of the tremendous impact each individual has within an organization. Regi’s keynotes are noted for their insight, humor and effectiveness. Her stories have been featured on Sirius Radio, Apple Seed Radio, The Moth, and NPR. Her story Snap! is a winner of the Boston StorySlam. Snap! is the true tale of her severe mental illness as a teenager and her journey back to reality. Her memoir, “Where There’s Smoke, There’s Dinner: stories of a seared childhood” is “an unexpected gift that leaves us longing for more.” Booklist Review. Regi is also the founder of Stories with Spirit, a creative initiative dedicated to bringing songs of joy and stories of hope to children and the people who love and care for them in homes, hospices, and hospitals.

Presentation(s)

The Path of Recovery: One Story at a Time

Storytelling as a Therapeutic Tool in Childhood, Adult and Family Bereavement

 

 

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“I’m a Real Girl/Boy, Not a Broken Toy”: Inviting the Disconnected Child Back into Humanity

Speaker(s):

Liz Hunter

Presentation:

All I wanted as a child was to feel like a “real” girl. Instead, I grew up in a society that inadvertently separated me with statements of “realness.” My foster parents were often asked, “Is she your real child?” I was frequently questioned, “Where are your real parents? Why doesn’t your real mom love you?” From the abusive and neglectful place I first landed to the rejecting world of foster care, I was unable to connect with the ideas of real love and family. Everything about my internal and external reality felt lacking and, therefore, inferior. I came to understand myself as an “other”—something not “real” or less than human.

As professionals, we intimately understand how attachment problems are created at home. Yet, we may not realize that victims of abuse/neglect are receiving disconnecting messages both within and outside the walls that house them. Sometimes, this disconnect is even perpetuated by the very profession that seeks to remedy it. Human helpers need to better understand how a sense of “disconnection” interplays with many of the behavioral and emotional problems we see in children from traumatic circumstances.

Children come to care about the impact of their actions on others through having a strong and healthy connection to people. But what happens when a child feels alienated from humankind? With my story, as well as my parents’ stories, I will seek to answer that question. I will explore both the interfamilial and societal dynamics that led to generation of dysfunction within my own family—dysfunction characterized by abuse, neglect, homelessness, substance abuse, mental illness, and marked parental failure. I will show how this cycle was finally broken by others simply inviting me back into humanity and showing me that I was and always had been a “real” girl.

Objectives:

  • Describe the mental processes and environmental messages that lead a child to become/feel “disconnected”
  • Explore how “disconnection” leads to negative interpretations of self
  • Explore how disconnecting from ourselves leads us to disconnect from others.
  • Show how our growth, connection, and learning needs can sometimes be met in the darkest of spaces by the most unexpected people
  • Show how children born into the same home circumstances can have different outcomes because of connections they forge
  • Show that the only cure for human connection problems is human connection.
  • Show that our hope for reaching people is through our shared humanness
  • Show that the people who changed my life the most were the people who simply identified a need within me, connected with the need, and met it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hunter, Liz

Liz Hunter survived a childhood of abuse and neglect, followed by seven years in the Missouri foster care system. Against all odds, she went on to graduate Valedictorian of her high school and become among the 3% of former foster youth to earn a college degree. She now holds degree specializations in Psychology, Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Social Work.

Liz is a writer, child welfare trainer, and speaker. She has spent the past 5 years educating people about the effects of trauma on children and the special needs of kids in the foster care system. She is the Founder of the Facebook foster care advocacy page, Foster Noise/Adopt Peace. Liz serves on the regional advisory board of Children’s Home and Aid and the governing board of The Restore Network. She has been featured on KSDK news, Bott Radio, and published in Foster Focus Magazine. Liz is the writer of the upcoming short film “Love is Never Wasted” and is in the process of publishing a memoir of her life titled “Pieces of You”.

If you were to ask Liz her proudest accomplishment, though, she would say it is her family. She has been married to her high school sweetheart for 15 years and is the mother of 4 children, 2 of whom she adopted through foster care.

Learn more about Liz, and view her speaker demo.

Liz Hunter -Speaker Demo from Liz Hunter on Vimeo.

 

 

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UMSL Center for Behavioral Health

UMSL – Center for Behavioral Health (CBH) provides high-quality and affordable outpatient psychological services to children and families throughout the St. Louis region. We are a leading provider of psychological evaluations, which allow families to understand their child’s strengths and challenges and help caregivers to get the help that their child needs.

website: http://www.umsl.edu/cbh/

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Vocational Rehabilitation

If you want to work but have a disability that keeps you from finding, keeping or advancing in a job, Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) may be able to help you. VR specializes in employment and training services that can assist you in becoming employed. A VR counselor will determine your eligibility for services. To be eligible, you need to have a physical or mental impairment that causes problems with working and need VR services to be successfully employed. Once eligible, you will work with a counselor who will help you develop a plan for your rehabilitation. We will give you vocational information and guidance allowing you to make informed choices about your vocational plan.

website: https://dese.mo.gov/adult-learning-rehabilitation-services/vocational-rehabilitation

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Fulton State Hospital

Fulton State Hospital, authorized in 1847 and opened in 1851, is the oldest public mental health facility west of the Mississippi River. The hospital is certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and has been accredited by The Joint Commission (TJC) since 1984.

For more information, please visit: https://dmh.mo.gov/fulton/

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Alkermes

Alkermes is a leader in innovative medicines that address the unmet needs and challenges of people living with debilitating diseases. As a fully integrated global biopharmaceutical company, Alkermes applies our scientific expertise, proprietary technologies and global resources to develop products that are designed to make a meaningful difference in the way patients manage their disease.

website: http://www.alkermes.com/

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Mental Health First Aid and Suicide Prevention

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a course designed to teach the general public how to recognize symptoms of mental health problems, how to offer and provide initial help, and how to guide a person towards appropriate treatments and other supportive help. As a certified Mental Health First Aider, you will know how to implement the five-step MHFA Action Plan.

website: http://mhfamissouri.org/