Fresh Start Seminar
Next Schedule Dates:  Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd June, 2008

• Contact: Margaret Poore (02) 9635 6870
  
• Venue: The Salvation Army, Parramatta. Function Centre

This seminar begins on a Friday evening then continues all day Saturday and Sunday. There are lectures, plus small group discussions with trained facilitators and times of informal conversation.

Fresh Start is for people going through the trauma of separation and divorce. The aim is to provide coping strategies and teaching that will give an individual ways to grow through their pain and loss. This happens in a non-threatening and caring atmosphere. Participants are encouraged to seek purpose and meaning in their lives through a personal relationship with God.

Another aspect of ‘Fresh Start’ is to help pastors and other care workers understand the needs and grief of the separated and divorced.

Key presentations cover the following topics:

• Stages Recovery
  
• Re-entry – Life as a Single
  
• Breaking the Destructive Family Pattern
  
• Beginning Again – Biblical Insights for the Divorced
  
• Working Through Bitterness – Learning to Forgive.

Electives include: (subject to change)

• A Fresh Look at Your Finances
  
• Becoming More Assertive

Second Wind Seminar

This seminar spans Friday evening and all day Saturday. It is designed for those who have attended ‘Fresh Start’ who are now ready to move on with their life and need help with the adjustments involved. Attendance at ‘Fresh Start’ is not a pre-requisite.

‘Second Wind’ is appropriate for people who have worked through the emotional upheaval of separation and/or divorce and deals with issues particularly related to finding fulfilment in personal growth. “Second Wind’ gives participants the opportunity to develop a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards their own future.

Key presentations include:

• Developing a Positive Self Image and Goal Setting
  
• A Fresh Look at Remarriage
  
• Blended Families
  
• Fulfilled Singleness
  
• Handling Emotions
  
• Single Sexuality
  

Kids in the Middle

Where appropriate the Co-ordinator can also visit groups to provide assistance for young people (high school age and over) who are trying to cope with the separation and divorce of their parents. This is aimed to provide tools they need to adjust to a new life style. As with the other seminars in the program, it also provides the comfort of knowing that they are not alone.

It is estimated that more than half of all children born today will at some time on their lives live in a single parent family. There it is essential that this community challenge be addressed.