Welcome!
Thank you for visiting this website.
I developed this notion of telling 2-minute caregiving stories in the work I started with Ellen Ryan and the Centre for Gerontological Research (McMaster University) in 2004. In dozens of workshops we’ve offered since then, the family caregivers we served showed me there was never enough time for the storytelling they wanted to do. I also learned from listening to them the power in giving the simple gift of my presence and attention.
Out of these experiences, I constructed Finding The Smile, a workshop and now a website, designed for family caregivers who want to tell better stories and strengthen their connections with the family and friends who support them.
Here, we offer you an opportunity to play with story-building techniques and story-telling practices. Browse around. Click on the tabs at the top of the page to go deeper. Download any of the materials we provide here and use them freely:
Thanks to my gifted website creator and site manager, Kevin McCarthy of Borderline WebDesign, you’ll find storytelling resources tailored for family caregivers:
- Instructions and handouts are meant to be short, and easy to print out and use.
- Tips are taken from the notes I use to set up storytelling sessions.
- Resources list web links to my sources. note: Any failure to acknowledge a source is unintentional on my part.
I am especially grateful to participants in the One Day @ A Time workshops sponsored by Folks@Home in Sewanee, TN in the spring, 2015. Thank you for your interest and support. May you find the joy and laughter that come with telling and listening to well-crafted, 2-minute stories about family caregiving.
I invite each of you who visits here to complete the survey listed under “contact us.” I’m new to offering my materials online, and would greatly appreciate your comments.
- Kathleen
I developed this notion of telling 2-minute caregiving stories in the work I started with Ellen Ryan and the Centre for Gerontological Research (McMaster University) in 2004. In dozens of workshops we’ve offered since then, the family caregivers we served showed me there was never enough time for the storytelling they wanted to do. I also learned from listening to them the power in giving the simple gift of my presence and attention.
Out of these experiences, I constructed Finding The Smile, a workshop and now a website, designed for family caregivers who want to tell better stories and strengthen their connections with the family and friends who support them.
Here, we offer you an opportunity to play with story-building techniques and story-telling practices. Browse around. Click on the tabs at the top of the page to go deeper. Download any of the materials we provide here and use them freely:
- Get personal: shape your own caregiving stories with another caregiver willing to pair up with you and practice, or
- Go big: host your own storytelling sessions for family caregivers you know, and practice!
Thanks to my gifted website creator and site manager, Kevin McCarthy of Borderline WebDesign, you’ll find storytelling resources tailored for family caregivers:
- Instructions and handouts are meant to be short, and easy to print out and use.
- Tips are taken from the notes I use to set up storytelling sessions.
- Resources list web links to my sources. note: Any failure to acknowledge a source is unintentional on my part.
I am especially grateful to participants in the One Day @ A Time workshops sponsored by Folks@Home in Sewanee, TN in the spring, 2015. Thank you for your interest and support. May you find the joy and laughter that come with telling and listening to well-crafted, 2-minute stories about family caregiving.
I invite each of you who visits here to complete the survey listed under “contact us.” I’m new to offering my materials online, and would greatly appreciate your comments.
- Kathleen