BOOK FRAN FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT

Call 203-536-3531 or Email frandorf@aol.com

Fran is available to speak to or conduct a workshop with your group or meeting on “Coping with Loss” or “Write to Heal”

Rates available on Request

Events

Rutgers University - April 21, 2010 - “Coping with Loss”

Coping with Loss/Statement of Purpose

Loss comes along with each and every human being on this planet on the journey of life.  Fran Dorf, using her unique set of skills, first hand knowledge of major grief, long time study of psychology, formal education and experience as a psychotherapist, has prepared a 1 hour to 1 hour and 1/2 interactive powerpoint presentation designed for a general interest audience to provide an overview of the types of losses we all face and a toolbox of skills to help people recognize and identify loss for what it is, prepare the mind to accept loss as a part of life, prevent people from denying their feelings, and teach coping techniques and strategies. Losses people face might include:

• Loss of someone close (through death of family member or friend, or through circumstance, also pet loss and miscarriage)
• Loss of significant other or spouse (through death, divorce, breakup, or circumstance)
• Loss of health (through accident or illness, or a loved one’s accident or illness)
• Loss of culture (through immigration)
• Loss of cherished dreams or ambition
• Loss of a friendship
• Loss of safety after a trauma
• Loss of job, income, lifestyle, or financial stability
• Loss associated with life-stage changes (including loss of childhood, transition to adulthood, “midlife crisis,” aging, loss of “beauty”
• Loss of privacy or autonomy
• Loss of innocence

Write to Heal Workshop/Statement of Purpose

A process-centered writing workshop suitable for either a general audience or a loss-oriented audience. Fran has presented the “Write to Heal” Workshop with parents who’ve lost children, addicted individuals, homeless, chronically mentally ill, and general audiences. The workshop, while not a literary craft seminar, employs exercises and literary techniques, and includes some fiction techniques Fran explored in “Saving Elijah,” a novel that uniquely distills the psychological process of grief. “Write to Heal” is designed to help people cope with the complex emotions surrounding grief, loss, illness, addiction, aging, and other traumatic or difficult life experiences. Can be combined with the general presentation, for a half day event.

FRAN’S TESTIMONY

My personal story is testimony to the power of writing to heal. When my son, Michael, died in 1994, I was already a successful writer, a paperback version of my second novel having just been published. For about three years I stopped writing, angrily rejecting all counsel to do otherwise. Paralyzed with grief, I firmly believed that I would and could never write again. One desperate day, I bought a composition book, secretly, because I didn’t want anyone to know that I had taken that step, which along with my continued existence seemed like a betrayal to my son. Did I still want to be a professional writer? No. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to live without my son. Since publishing was the furthest thing from my mind, I didn’t have to think about content, form, or logic, let alone tact or accuracy. In that composition book I began to give voice to my deepest emotions through uncensored writing, and it was through that extraordinary process that I found what I’ve come to call my healing muse, and began the long journey that enabled me to reinvest in my life, even without Michael. Eventually I turned that incoherent, raw journal into an unconventional novel called “Saving Elijah.”

Writing is a process by which the human soul can reveal itself and find expression. When we are deeply wounded or ill, writing can be a kind of psychological medicine that helps us integrate and even transform our most frightening and difficult feelings. In the seven years since the publication of “Saving Elijah”, I’ve used my training and reading in psychology and my experience as a bereaved mother and writer, to develop a writing workshop that can help in this difficult task. The workshop employs a constantly evolving series of exercises help us pay attention to our inner world, find and reclaim our deepest feelings and memories, and give these feelings and memories voice, either directly or indirectly, using metaphor, image, and/or narrative. Some of the exercises encourage individual expression, and some nurture group healing, community, and support. Some of the exercises I’ve developed myself, others that I’ve adopted from other teachers in this field such as James Pennebacker, Susan Zimmerman and John Fox. I’ve conducted workshops with many different groups, including the bereaved, addicted, and homeless. I tailor the workshop to the needs and interests of the participants, and it is accessible to anyone. I’ve found that people are amazed at their own power, and come away from the workshop with a sense of renewal, hope, strength, and growth.

You cannot discover new places unless you consent

to lose sight of land for a very long time.

Andre Gide