Vision Boards with Chrysalis Society

In the last two weeks I have spent two afternoons facilitating Vision Board workshops with the women residents of Chrysalis Society (www.chrysalissociety.com).  These women are working to overcome some significant obstacles to live healthier lives, and take better care of themselves.  They are in recovery from addiction.  What an amazing experience for me!  I truly find I learn so much from the people I work with.  I also really admire the courage it takes to admit needing help and working toward a better future. 

We began the workshops with introductions and a brief description of how to prepare a vision board.  I suggested trying to approach the process without thinking too much and just choosing images that appealed and not thinking about why.  To get us out of our heads and focusing from our hearts we did a short meditation to calm and centre ourselves.  Once that was done, and participants had chosen a background for their board (I had a variety of colours available), we handed around magazines and started ripping! 

Some examples of the finished vision boards are displayed on my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RomaPalmerCounsellor (see the sidebar for the link).  Themes of relationships and family were prevalent in a number of the completed projects.  As well, travel, spirituality, and developing passions were apparent in several of the boards. 

Watching the women work on finding just the right picture was exciting.  I found it encouraging seeing the women enjoy the task and engage with one another about possibilities for their futures. 

I also found it interesting seeing how people completed their boards and how different the final pieces were from each other.  Some people’s boards were jammed with photos.  Others contained more inspirational words than pictures.  Some people struggled to find pictures to match the image they had in their head (maybe thinking too much about achieving a particular result?).  Other completed boards had few pictures or images but the ones that were chosen were very significant to them.  How people completed their vision boards really seemed to say something about their personalities as well as their passions.

I thoroughly enjoyed bringing this event to the women at Chrysalis Society.  I found the experience to be inspirational for me and, judging by the responses I had, it appeared to be so for them as well.