Carers are often stigmatised and marginalised because of their decision to provide unpaid care to the person they are supporting. This can cause feelings of isolation and disconnection from community. They can feel like they are walking on eggshells, with their sense of security threatened, causing hypervigilance and negative emotions. All of these difficult emotions can cause a sense of despair and lead to depression or worse.

In Discovering My Eagle Heart of Resilience, participants will map their personal journey as a carer and identify situations that have been difficult to navigate, reframing into clear opportunities for learning. In a peer-to-peer framework, strategies will be unlocked for navigating and managing the stress associated with the carer's journey.

No stranger to those difficulties, Hayley Solich will lead an open-hearted conversation about her journey as a leader in the national carer space and how it was her resilience in the face of difficulty that enabled her to discover her 'eagle-heart' and new skills to rise above the difficulties she faced in her advocacy work and how this translates to us all in our everyday living.

Discovering my Eagle Heart of Resilience will be an uplifting and informative session that will assist the carer to position themselves for success as they are validated, motivated and inspired through story and wisdom sharing.

Objectives:

To explore the carer journey and identify the challenges.
To brainstorm solutions to challenges in a peer-to-peer framework.
To increase the understanding of what is resilience.
To increase the capacity for resilience of the group.
To inspire, motivate and increase the sense of hope of the participants.

Who is this workshop for?

People who support others, ie parents, friends, relatives, children, siblings (carers).
Carers who feel disconnected, frustrated and isolated.
Carers who may or may not have experienced or be aware of their own loss and grief.
Workers who want to better understand the carer experience.

What to expect:

This will be an interactive session, in a conversational style.
A renewed sense of hope for the future.
A safe space for sharing will be created and maintained.
Support after the session is available via our support groups and counselling team.
A light morning tea will be provided at 11:00am. Dietary requirements should be stated in registration.
To walk away with a new perspective of the identity 'carer' and an awareness of grief literacy and emotional intelligence.

About the Facilitator:

Facilitated by Hayley Solich, a multi-award-winning systemic carer advocate and carer engagement training specialist, who has a lived experience of caring for family members living with mental and physical health challenges. Awarded the WA Mental Health Consumer Impact Inspiration Award and the City of Stirling Community Citizen of the Year Award in 2019, Hayley is a leading voice on carer engagement, having presented to 15 public mental health facilities, and at several state, national and international conferences on the topic of Carer Engagement and Peer Work.

In her past role as the Carer Co-Chair of the National Mental Health Consumer & Carer Forum, Hayley was the initiator of the Mental Health Family/Carer Experiences of COVID Research Project, which recently attracted the prestigious ANZSWWER Conference Achievement in Research about Community Education, Community Development and/or Social Action by Individuals or Teams Award.

As an educator with two decades of experience, Hayley is passionate about sharing wisdom to create abundance and brings to the course her lived experience of caring and her broad knowledge of the caring sector in Australia.

She is the host of The Gold Digger Podcast with Hayley Solich, a writer for HoneyBee Lifestyle Magazine and past editor of Finally at 40 Life Begins Magazine and Golden Pen Magazine.

Hayley has a lived experience of grief and loss, having lost family members to miscarriage, road trauma, heart disease, brain cancer, and Alzheimer's, with friends dying by suicide. Hayley currently works as the Business Development Manager at The Grief Centre of Western Australia and is engaged in systemic advocacy within the mental health space.

This event is a partnership between The Grief Centre of WA and the Mental Illness Fellowship of WA (MIFWA).