Course schedule

Please see below complete course descriptions for our Fall 2018 offerings. Please contact us directly for information on group rates, private courses or subsidies.

To register for a course, contact us with your name and e-mail address so that we can send you the brief registration questionnaire and payment form. The questionnaire will help us make sure your specific needs are addressed. Thank you.

Caring for your aging loved one: what you need to know

It can easily become overwhelming when the needs of our aging loved ones change and the physical and emotional demands on us increase. Aging and the many complex issues that can follow are part of life, but they don’t need to take over your life.

There are two paths open to you as your loved one gradually becomes less and less independent and is reaching that point when it is no longer advisable or safe for them to manage their own lives. You will get busier and busier filling in the gaps and increasingly being the person making sure everything is okay. Alternately, you might place them somewhere where they will be well taken care of.

This course will give you an overview of what to expect on this amazing, challenging and deeply rewarding journey. With lots of helpful anecdotes and tips, you will learn about the resources and options available to you at each stage and there will also be ample time for questions and discussion.

Some of the topics covered include:

– The difficulty elders have recognising their own mental decline
– Helping your loved one adjust to being less independent, while supporting them in staying as independent as possible
– Safety in the home and staying safe wherever they are
– Powers of Attorney
– Wills and Estates
– Changing Nutritional requirements and tastes
– Increased isolation: sociability and stimulation to improve quality of life

This three week course will be held on Monday September 17, 24 and October 1 from 7:30 to 9 pm and costs $60 plus HST.

Your guides on this course are Stonebridge Haven co-founders Claire Marson and Dan Berg who run this retreat and respite centre dedicated to taking care of those who take care of others.

Getting the Love You Want: Lasting Help for Troubled Relationships

You fell in love once and now it feels like that love is gone. Many people in this position simply look for another partner and end up making some of the same mistakes again. There is another way.

Harville Hendrix, in his classic book Getting the Love You Want, takes you deep into your own wiring and explores how you fell in love, using many simple questionnaires to tease out your relationship style and its roots in your childhood.

Each week we will explore a different chapter of this book, as he guides you through the natural disillusionment of coming to grips with the reality of your relationship while proposing a mature way of treating each other that supports you in creating a new life together.

Often this book is only read when it may already be too late for the current relationship. However, many who have done the work Hendrix suggests have given birth to a new relationship with their original partner.

This 12-week study from September 26 to December 12, 2018 runs Wednesday evenings from 7:30 – 9 pm and costs $180 per person or $240 for a couple, plus HST. This fee includes one copy of the book (for couples, a second copy is available for an additional $25).

Your guide on this course is Stonebridge Haven co-founder Dan Berg. He has been a practicing certified family mediator with the OAFM and a certified NLP Master Practitioner, and has decades of experience walking with individuals and couples as they sort out the complexities of their lives.

What to do about food when everything changes

Life often brings us surprises in the shape of changing food requirements. Maybe you have been diagnosed with diabetes or you or a loved one have problems swallowing, need to lose weight or gain weight, have candida or really cannot eat gluten anymore. It can be confusing and frustrating and leave you feeling deprived.

There are nutritious and delicious solutions and practical tips available to simplify and empower you on your new culinary journey. Whether you are a novice in the kitchen or more experienced, there will be lots for you to learn and experience in the relaxed atmosphere of our country kitchen. You may find yourself working with new ingredients and recipes will be tailored to your requirements after you fill in the course preregistration form.

Each two-hour session will include theory, practical tips, hands on preparation and then, of course, tasting the results! In week one we will cover main courses, week two desserts and week three snacks.

Your guide on this course is Stonebridge Haven co-founder and owner Claire Marson, an outstanding chef and patient advocate, with a wealth of personal experience to share on evolving personal cooking needs and adaptive techniques and choices to respond to your loved one’s changing needs.

This course runs for three consecutive Saturday mornings October 13 to 27 from 10 am – 12 pm and costs $120 plus HST and includes all materials and food.

Please check back for additional courses or contact us directly for more information or to have us build a course for you or your organization.