Aging Concepts is a consulting company that provides
1 hour and
3-hour presentations in a variety of settings – senior centers,
libraries, churches, long-term care
facilities, retirement communities and the general community in the Chicagoland
area. Most of the programs are aimed at
professionals and can be certified for CEUs (continuing educations
credits). A number of the programs are
specifically geared for older adults for both education and entertainment. To find out more about scheduling a
presentation at your location in the Chicagoland area, e-mail nj@agingconcepts.com
and
give your name, city and phone number.
We will get back to you and help you set up a seminar.
Be
sure to check out our newest 3-hour presentations: "The Bridge of
Love" and "Who Am I? Why Am I Here" below.
The following topics are currently
available in 3-hour sessions which can be CEU certified:
“Acupuncture to Zinc, A look at alternative therapies”
Aimed at professionals and helpers in the aging field. Presents an overview of the many alternative
therapies to allopathic medicine that are available to today’s health
consumers. It shows how alternatives have
evolved over the years and the place some of them have held in the history of
medical development. Today with the
growth of mind/body medicine, there is a new openness to alternatives as viable
methods of treatment, especially with chronic health concerns.
“Aging: Sacred Work
for the Future”
Discusses the positive aspects of aging. It highlights techniques
that can be
effectively mastered in this stage of life development. It focuses on how to recognize the stereotypes,
how to work with attitude adjustment, alternative methods of dealing with aging
challenges and stress, and empowerment methods. It explores aging in other cultures. It connects up the need for spirituality at this stage of life
with confronting one’s approaching death.
"Caregiving 101"
Caregiving 101 examines the role of
caregiving for older adults by their adult children or other
kin. It defines what caregiving is, what questions need to
be asked and what resources are available. Knowing what to
do and when to do it are key to successful caregiving. It
touches on the emotional, social and practical aspects
involved. It explains the various programs that are
available to older adults and the qualifications that need
to be met. It covers what caregivers need to do to also
take care of themselves to avoid burnout.
“Dreams – Inner Guidance System”
Looks at the importance of dreams in our lives, how to
recall them and how to interpret them to gain the wisdom they contain. It is a fun and informative program and
contains many practical suggestions that one can put to work to access this
source of wisdom. It explains various
methods of interpretation and how to capture dreams before they get away. It describes ways of utilizing this
important source of guidance for your benefit.
“Forgiveness: The
First Step in Healing”
Explores the connection between human emotions and
healing. It will also cover the
spiritual aspects involved and show why it is vital to the health of the body
as well as the health of the soul to practice forgiveness. It will offer some practical suggestions on
the process of forgiveness. It will
also discuss how to promote a healthier lifestyle by incorporating forgiveness
as a natural part of one’s life.
“Heart
Wisdom”
Examines the recent discoveries about the wisdom and
cellular memory found in the heart. It
looks at the heart as an organ of intelligence instead of it being just a
mechanical pump. It explores various
facets of beliefs surrounding the heart and its function from ancient spiritual
teachings to modern medical scientific findings. Techniques of learning how to tune into one’s heart and how to
utilize the wisdom found there will be explained. Experiences of heart transplant patients will be shared and a
look at what that means to the whole transplant system will be explored.
“Meditation or Medication – Your Choice”
Includes a look at alternative ways of viewing life and its
progression. It will challenge you to
re-think the current model of aging and show you how to participate in making
changes to promote a healthy older adulthood.
The presentation will explain the value of using attitude changes and
meditation to resolve the issues of life.
It will explore how spiritual connections can help heal lives when there
is no cure for disease. This program
will weave together new findings from the medical field with old practices from
the great spiritual traditions.
“Rite of Passage”
Explores the grief journey, looks at the various stages of
grief and explains how to recognize normal grief from pathological grief. It looks at different theories of the grief
journey and how we move through it. It
offers ideas of how to offer comfort and support to those who are dealing with
loss, as well as surviving it oneself.
Loss is an experience that changes a person, alters one’s perception of
reality at times and is something that no one can escape. In many cases, it is the doorway to
adulthood.
“Stress:
Friend or Foe”
Looks at
the role stress has in our lives and its effects. The program will teach
you how to recognize the stressors and what to do about them. Several
strategies for dealing with stress will be explored and experienced. Burn
out is a major issue in social services so it is important to learn what steps
you can take to avoid becoming "crispy". It will also look at
inner resources and outer techniques you can utilize to de-stress your work place
and yourself.
"The
Bridge of Love"
The Bridge of Love
discusses life after death, scientific studies being done on
the subject and near-death experiences.
People have had a belief about life continuing after
the physical body dies from the earliest of times to the
present day. This
presentation incorporates the research that is being done,
personal experiences of people who have had contact with a
deceased person and how it fits into our evolution in
consciousness. It
will also include how after death contact fits into grief
work for the bereaved. (This is also offered in a
5-hour format.)
“The Gift of Peace”
Explains the practice of meditation, its relevance to our
lives and how to access levels of consciousness where true peace resides. It explores how to use meditation to promote
healthy human and spiritual growth and focuses on attaining peace of mind –
God’s greatest gift to us. It gives
easy to follow suggestions that allow one to start this practice immediately.
“The Path of the Elder”
Proposes a new paradigm for aging and suggest different
approaches and goals for the emergence of the “Elder” personality. It explains the steps that can be taken to
promote elderhood instead of the image of being elderly. It focuses on positive actions and spiritual
growth to achieve peace of mind. It
looks at the need for spiritual understanding when contemplating the approach
of death and the end of physical life.
It discusses various avenues to lead to community involvement and leadership
roles instead of
isolation and dependency.
It explores the great traditions and how they deal with the second half
of life. It examines the Wise Old
Woman/Man archetype.
"Who Am I? Why Am I Here?"
Leads one into a
deeper perspective of the reason for our being and gives insights into our view
of our life and its purpose. By having a deeper understanding of life and
its purpose, one can be more attuned to interactions with others and the reasons
behind those interactions. This can also enhance one's life and the lives
of others. These are the two questions that everyone wants
to answer before they die and this presentation explores various paths to the answers. (This is also offered in a 5-hour format.)
The
following are available in 1-hour sessions and are suitable
for the general public:
"There Is Life After
Retirement"
This talk is an invitation to take a look at retirement
beyond golf and financial planning. Do you have a life
plan? What dreams can be resurrected? Where do you find
meaningful activities? Do you know how to walk the path of
inner growth? Have you done a life review? How can you
make a difference in the life of others? What challenges
might be ahead for you? Have you explored end-of-life
issues? These are a few of the questions that need to be
met in the later half of life.
“The Assisted Living Option”
Looks at what is involved in caregiving for one’s parents or
elderly relatives. It teaches how to
judge whether he or she is capable of living alone, investigates safety issues
in the home and explores ways to give self care to survive burn out by using
community resources. It also looks at
how to determine if it is time to consider moving into an assisted living
community and how to go about finding the right one. It looks at what assisted living consists of and how it can help
your older loved ones live comfortable, safe and enjoyable lives.
“The Best Is Yet To Be”
Gives a positive view of the aging process, highlighting
alternative methods of dealing with this stage of life development. It focuses on how to break the stereotypes,
how to work with attitudes and how to empower seniors to remain
independent. It includes a look at the
practices of meditation, visualization and dream work and how to apply them to
one’s life. (Geared to older adults)
“The Emotional Rollercoaster"
Focuses on helping people understand and deal with the
emotional issues surrounding caring for a dependent adult. It explores the various emotions involved
with the caregiving situation and makes practical suggestions of how to deal
with them. It suggests community
resources, advance planning ideas and self-care for the caregiver.
“To Place or Not to Place:
The Nursing Home Decision”
Looks at what is involved in caregiving for one’s parents or
elderly relatives. It teaches how to
judge whether he or she is capable of living alone, investigates safety issues
in the home and explores ways to give self care to survive burn out by using
community resources. It also looks at
how to determine if it is time for nursing home placement and how to go about
finding the right nursing home. It will
also attempt to answer some of the more common questions surrounding nursing
home placement.
It
is possible to convert some of the 3-hour presentations to a
shortened 1-hour talk for a more general audience.
