Using effective communication skills with your parents may not have always been a challenge. But now your world has changed...
Maybe it was a phone call, or something you picked up on during your last visit. Whatever has happened, you're now clear that the situation for your aging parents is altered. You're awake to the reality that your parents will never be who they once were.
A fall? A decline in health? Discovery of financial matters that haven't been handled? Something has shifted, and you are now deep into a realm you did not predict.
You're clear it's time to talk about what's happening now, as well as what the plans are for the future, but you are running into a mountain of resistance.
Add siblings... extended family? Even your own grief for the losses to come is keeping you stuck. Difficult conversations must take place, but you have no idea where to turn next, because of the emotional swirl.
It
can begin to feel like you're trying to beat your parents over the
head, or that you'll never be able to cut through all the resistance.
You start to wish you could just cover over all your concerns and dread,
and just walk away.
I'm Dale Susan Edmonds, and I've helped people have these conversations with aging parents for over 30 years. After helping hundreds of families, I've developed some pretty clear ideas about how all this can really work.
If the idea of conversations with your aging parents about the future has been a daunting prospect, there's hope.
You can learn effective communication skills that have the unrelenting power of water.
Do you remember the child’s game, Rock-Paper-Scissors? You know how it goes:
--> Rock Smashes Scissors --> Scissors Cut Paper --> Paper Covers Rock |
But what is stronger than them all? Water.
Water rusts scissors, water dissolves paper, and what does it do to rock?
Over time, water is able to get into seemingly impenetrable spaces, and wear down the most unyielding obstacles. The same water accomplishes its task through many forms:
Water as tranquil river. Water as ice. Water as rapids. Water as quiet rainfall.
Like water, your conversations with aging parents can develop versatility, persistence, and transformative power.
You can't control what will happen over time. You don't know what the specific outcome will be. But you just may be amazed by what unfolds…
Remember the Grand Canyon?
Ebb & Flow
talk early talk often foundations course
This course is for people who are frustrated or confused by this new reality of aging parents. It is designed to help you re-establish clarity in the midst of heartrending chaos.
Many times, families will wait until a crisis is upon them before confronting the concerns and issues of aging head-on. And then nearly all their options are bad.
Others, will have important conversations among siblings or professionals and leave the parent(s) out of the loop. Decisions about housing or driving, for instance, are made in a vacuum. Then they wonder why their ultimatums are met with disastrous outcomes. They can only move forward if they essentially "blow up" their parent's world.
After this course you will possess the insight and skills to:
In this 6 session live webinar (by computer or phone) you will learn to work with the tools for carving out conversations with aging parents on any topic. You will receive the strategies to amplify and understand their deepest needs, and develop methods to melt their resistance.
Classes are spaced weekly so there will be time for you to try out the exercises and strategies that are given. You can also choose to be in dialogue
with others in the class about their discoveries or successes.
Class One: Listening for Yourself. Tues April 24, 2018 5:30-6:30 PM CDT Learn 3 ways in which your own hidden concerns are creating roadblocks to conversations with aging parents, and how to get out of your own way. |
Class Two: Setting the TEMPO in Motion Tues May 1, 2018 5:30-6:30 PM CDT Instantly reframe your perspective so that you can identify opportunities for productive conversations with your parents - now. |
Class Three: Hearing Your Parent's Heart Tues May 8, 2018 5:30-6:30 PM CDT Discover the formula for resistance and how to reverse it, so that your parents are open to resolving the difficult challenges they are facing. |
Class Four: Untangling Family Conflict Tues May 15, 2018 5:30-6:30 PM CDT Uncover persistent family conflicts and learn how to resolve the ones you can, avoid the ones that will be perpetually destructive, and develop the skills to know the difference. |
Class Five: Following the Pattern Tues May 22, 2018 5:30 -6:30 PM CDT
|
Class Six: Seeing Around Corners Tues May 29, 2018 5:30-6:30 PM CDT Anticipate care challenges so that you can plan for the future with your aging parents, and easily adapt to what comes next. |
OPTION 1: Group Course |
Includes | |
6 - 45 minute Live Group Teleclasses by phone | ||
MP3 Class Recording w/in 24 hrs | ||
6 Skills Practice Sessions | ||
Assignment & Exercise PDF | ||
Conversations Checklist | ||
Bonus: Private Online Group where I'll continue to help you refine your learning. | ||
|
| |
Regular Cost |
$497 | |
PILOT PRICE (discount applied at checkout) |
$197 |
OPTION 2: Ebb & Flow Premium
Group Course + Private Coaching
Includes everything in Option 1 + |
3 - 45 minute Private Phone Coaching Sessions. We'll aside time where you & I focus on the specifics your family challenges. |
Regular Cost PILOT PRICE (discount applied at checkout) |
$997 $497 |
At the start of this new year you've probably resolved a lot of things. Somewhere on that list is getting to those conversations with your parents that you've been putting off.
Why today? Because none of us is getting any younger, and these conversations don't get easier by dragging your feet. In fact, just the opposite. They get harder.
Encouragement, support, the right tools and strategies will open up possibilities and change the future path that has been set for how your family will work through this together.