Hi Coaching Colleagues,
Over the past two years I have had the honor of serving our dynamic and beloved Chapter through challenging and uncertain times. You, the coaches who make up our membership, our committees, and the Board are what make this Chapter unique. Hands down, YOU are the reason serving as your president has been so meaningful to me. (Picture my hand on my heart as I write this.)
My gratitude to the Board and our committees could fill pages upon pages of this newsletter!
During 2021–2022 our focused, dedicated, and resilient board members stepped up on behalf of us all. They delivered high-quality programming and opportunities to connect and network. They sustained their optimism, creativity, and flexibility when decisions needed to shift on a dime. Wow.
This past year alone our membership has increased by 30.5% and our programming has served larger numbers of members than ever before, including 3 ongoing, member-only coaching circles initiated by members who saw a need and partnered with us to make a circle happen. Our May International Coaching Week events reached beyond our membership into communities in need of coaching - healthcare, for one.
Above is just a taste of what we have accomplished during our year to date. I hope you will join us in-person on June 3 to celebrate, to express gratitude to the outgoing board, welcome the incoming board and pass the gavel to our incoming President, Lori Candela. Our Chapter is shifting into capable and dedicated hands. We’ll have breakfast and some fun (hint: there could be games involved) at the beautiful Town & County Club in Hartford. Register here.
I know previous past presidents agree that who we are today, as human beings, leaders, and coaches, is a direct result of the singular experience of leading ICF-CT. This is absolutely true for me! Relationships built with you, a fantastic board culture, and significant support from ICF GlobaI are the reasons I stuck around and will continue to serve in years to come.
THANK YOU!
Believing in you,
Judy Garfinkel
P.S. If you haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know the members of ICF-CT’s Board or participated on a committee to share in the fun and benefits from service, please consider exploring the possibilities. Email me at Judy.Garfinkel.Icf@gmail.com
|
It’s time to recognize all the accomplishments of the Chapter and welcome the new Board for the upcoming 2022-23 Chapter year. We hope you will attend this very special breakfast event!
Remarks will be made by outgoing President Judy Garfinkel and President Elect Lori Candela.
What can you look forward to?
- Hearing some of the accomplishment of the Chapter over the past year
- Learn more about the team behind the scenes
- Welcome the new Board for 2022-23
- Thank the outgoing Board for their service
- A delicious breakfast buffet
- Fun and a game or two!
- Plenty of parking
|
May is Mental Health Awareness month.
|
After more than two years of pandemic living and societal unrest, many of us have either personally had our mental health suffer in some way or know other people who have - or both.
What is “mental health” anyway?
- What’s the difference between normal human emotional responses, versus pathological responses, to incredibly hard times? Who gets to decide?
- Is there a difference between a mental health condition and a mental illness? If so, what?
- What about a physical condition (whether visible to others or not) that also impacts our brains - does that count as a mental health condition?
Our understanding of tese questions is evolving. So are our norms as a society. For example, trauma and PTSD are now starting to be acknowledged as a normal human response to a lifetime of discrimination and disempowerment. What does that mean for the person who suffers from PTSD? And how can we as coaches and members of our community support each other?
What’s clear is that there are questions we can each ask, and many (many!) ways we can support each other. Whether it’s employers inviting previously taboo conversations into the workplace to support their employees, or celebrities generously sharing their stories on social media to break the stigma, we all have a lot to learn from each other.
To learn more about different aspects of mental health - and what you can do to support both your own and other people - we invite you to explore the following resources:
https://www.mhanational.org/mental-health-month
https://adaa.org/mental-health-awareness-month
https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2022/05/03/fact-sheet-celebrating-mental-health-awareness-month-2022
https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Mental-Health-Awareness-Month
|