Workshop

Date: Saturday, 9/26

Time: 9-10:15am

I will be sharing a practical and honest conversation about what it means for people to rebuild their lives with dignity, choice, and ownership. The heart of the workshop is to connect to NARPA’s mission of supporting people’s human rights, autonomy, dignity, and choice. I want to help participants think beyond survival, labels, shame, and systems that often make people feel powerless. This workshop focuses on three main areas: 1. Healing as more than symptom management I will discuss healing as more than just “getting by,” staying out of crisis, or being told what to do. Healing is also about rebuilding identity, self-trust, emotional stability, and personal responsibility. I want participants to understand that healing includes learning how to live again with clarity, purpose, and dignity. It is not just about managing symptoms. It is about helping people see themselves as whole people with voice, value, and the ability to make meaningful choices. 2. Autonomy as part of recovery. I will talk about autonomy as a major part of recovery and personal transformation. This includes the ability to make decisions, set boundaries, build structure, ask for support, and take ownership of your life. Many people feel controlled by addiction, fear, shame, trauma, labels, outside expectations, or systems that speak over them instead of with them. This part of the workshop will focus on how people can begin to rebuild choice and direction in their lives. 3. Resistance as reclaiming power. I will frame resistance not as rebellion for the sake of rebellion, but as the decision to resist anything that keeps a person stuck. That can mean resisting hopelessness, shame, dependency, passivity, harmful mindsets, or systems that take away a person’s voice and dignity. I want participants to see resistance as a practical act of reclaiming power, rebuilding confidence, and choosing a new direction. The workshop will include: – Practical teaching – Personal reflection – Group discussion – Real-life examples – Simple action steps participants can apply after the session The tone will not be clinical or overly academic. It will be honest, grounded, and accessible. My goal is to create a space where people can reflect on their own lives, their work, their advocacy, and the ways healing, autonomy, and resistance show up in real situations. My goal is for participants to leave with a clearer understanding of how healing, autonomy, and resistance connect to dignity, choice, and human rights. I want participants to walk away understanding that healing is not just about compliance or survival. Autonomy is not selfish. Resistance is not always negative. Sometimes resistance is the decision to take your life back, rebuild your voice, and move forward with purpose. As a certified life and recovery coach and founder of Choosing Your Freedom, I will also share from my experience helping people rebuild discipline, identity, accountability, and long-term stability after addiction and destructive patterns. Overall, I want this workshop to encourage people to move from survival mode into ownership, while also honoring the importance of dignity, choice, advocacy, and alternatives to harmful or coercive approaches.