Workshops & Coaching
Gratitude for Everyday Leaders
Calm your mind. Improve your memory. Boost your energy. Plan your ways.
Work with Lorraine. Certified Journal to the Self® Instructor. Author. Community Convenor.
Whether you sign up for an online 90-minute session or join a four-part series, you will enjoy the benefits of pausing in order to think. With a pen and paper, you will gain insight into writing as a process that can help you:
- Reflect on events and emotions.
- Write the truth buried in your heart.
- Take steps to honour your sense of personal agency and privacy.
- Acknowledge circumstances and reframe challenges.
- Celebrate the things that are going well.
- Plan your next steps with greater clarity, confidence and courage.
- Manage memories with insight and self-compassion.
The Approach
Lorraine has thoroughly researched and is customizing an approach to journal writing that facilitates modern conversations. Drawing on her extensive experience as a practitioner and advocate for journal writing, she presents strategies and resources designed to enhance concentration, promote clarity, foster confidence, and encourage authenticity in various aspects of life. With over 10,000 hours of writing experience, Lorraine brings humour, stories, insights, and lessons, validated in peer reviewed research. If you’re interested in honing your leadership skills with a writing process that revives your optimism, calms your mind and feeds your creative spirit, contact Lorraine today.
Note: These workshops are about process, not product. Practising journal writing as a mindfulness tool, is a chance to engage in deep reflection that can yield various positive outcomes.
Writing as Craft:
In Canmore, AB. Final Session: Saturday May 23, 2026. 9:15 – 11:15 AM
In person | Max. group size 10 people | $69/single session
Contact me for alternate payment methods (e-transfer, etc)
This series deepens participants’ understanding of the various approaches to reflective journal writing as a craft and a practice. As we normalize writing with a pen and paper, we realize that different days require different approaches.
By understanding the various techniques to use, we will also be creating a community practice grounded in the science and benefits to be found in writing, in gratitude, in training our minds to default to positivity, creativity, humility, self-awareness, and self-compassion on a more regular basis. When done “write”, writing our way to gratitude is a profound act of self-care.
Two hours per session from 9:15 – 11:15 MT. Canmore location. Eight hours instruction. Maximum group size: 10. $69./single session.
Contact Lorraine if you are interested in joining Session #4. May 23. Wild Life Distillery. Canmore 9:15 AM – 11:15 AM
Writing as Craft: Creativity, Science & Techniques. Series Outline
Reflective Writing
What is it? ABC’s. Safety First. Science. Free write. Focus. Clusters. Glimmers.
If Only & Actually?
Enjoy the process. Reframing with gratitude. Free writing. Springboards and Prompts. Lists. Glimmers. Topics du Jour. Practical tips and tools.
Memory. Dialogue. Character sketches. Scenes. Letters.
Pro–tips. Chugging Along.
Habits. Motivation. Poems. Way-finding. Inventorying. Getting unstuck.
Expected Outcomes Include:
- Calmer mind. Better focus. Fresh perspective.
- Reduced Stress. Greater Self-understanding.
- Greater Clarity and Confidence.
- Higher levels of Self-compassion and Self-awareness.
- Motivation to Focus on Personal Priorities with Humility and Gratitude.
Online Coaching Session
Journal Writing Practice
1 : 1 Coaching with Lorraine Widmer-Carson | $100/hour*
Contact me for alternate payment methods (e-transfer, etc)
Requirements:
- Secure internet connection, no distractions.
- 60 minutes of privacy.
- A blank page and a pen.
- Growth mindset. Curiousity. Courage.
Outcomes:
- Introduction to Science, Tools and Techniques for Journal writing as a healthy practice.
- Calmer mind. Greater clarity. Better focus.
- Understanding of different techniques for different purposes.
- Motivation to normalize writing as a habit for thinking your way.
If you would like to work with Lorraine 1:1, please get in touch.
*Educational discounts and bundles available.
Write. Appreciate. Recalibrate.
Online Workshop
Writing as Way-finding
Via Zoom, Online | Reflective Writing | 90 minutes | Maximum group size of 8 people. | $59/session
Contact me for alternate payment methods (e-transfer, etc)
This 90-minute online workshop is designed to support educators, teachers, leaders, mentors and coaches of all disciplines as you reflect, reframe and re-ignite your creativity with a heightened sense of possibilities.
With pro-tips, techniques, prompts and science, Lorraine encourages participants to embrace a growth mindset, a mood shift towards positivity and encouragement to calmly recalibrate and freshen your focus.
This workshop is a 90-minute session with a maximum group size of 8 people. $59./session
Customized Workshop
Customized Presentation to Your Team
In person | Up to 25 people | Two hours | Rate: $750 includes copies of 25 books | Travel extra. Discounts available.
Contact me for alternate payment methods (e-transfer, etc)
About Lorraine Widmer-Carson
Certified Journal to the Self® Instructor. Author. Workshop Facilitator. Community Convenor.
Lorraine Widmer-Carson has been honing her writing practice for over 35 years and is ready to inspire your journey with her practical expertise. A master journal writer and community advocate, Lorraine believes in the transformative power of journal writing, as you define your priorities, your reasons to be grateful, and reflect on the good things in life. You will discover higher levels of personal resiliency, creativity, and confidence in every area of your life — at home, in community and in your places of work or worship. With insight and gratitude, participants will strengthen their levels of social, physical, emotional, spiritual development and enjoy greater levels of humility and calm.
A Bow Valley resident for over 40 years, Lorraine has built her life around appreciation of nature, love of family and commitment to community. Supportive of and supported by her wide circles of friendships, she draws inspiration from the place that she calls home, fully aware that she resides on lands that are part of Treaty 7 of southern Alberta. Living in a townsite located inside Canada’s oldest national park, Lorraine has worked with nonprofits and organizations that serve the community, including social and environmental causes, while revelling in the majesty of wild landscapes that surround her.
When not skiing, hiking, or exploring secret birding spots with her grandchildren, Lorraine may be fondly reminiscing with Erwin, her Swiss-Canadian husband about their adventures with their four grown children and people they met while operating the family business: Ticino Swiss Italian Restaurant (1979 – 2023). And it is quite likely that they will be sharing a pot of cheese fondue with candles and gratitude.
Get in touch today!
“Writing is a tool that helps you remind yourself about the things that really matter. Remembering the important things in your life improves relationships and reminds you of all your reasons to be grateful. Even when the head winds are strong and life is chaotic, Gratitude is a grounding agent and the social glue that can fill up the holes in your life, improve your friendships and motivate you to keep going.” Lorraine