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 Lorraine an in-person 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, authoring your own life story.
- 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.
In a September 2026 survey, people who have worked with Lorraine cited their top reason to write in their journal is:
- Helpful for facing change, reducing anxiety when preparing for things in the future
Three more reasons for writing in a journal, tied for second:
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- Helpful for remembering and savouring good things that have happened in the past
- Helpful for figuring out “what’s really going on”
- Helpful for nurturing my creative practice
Writing as Way -finding Fall 2026
FALL 2026: Online Series
Six Thursdays
6:30 – 8 pm Mountain Time
November 5, 12, 19, 26, December 3, 10
PLUS: A Celebration Party December 17
Online
Cost: $319 for series — 6 sessions | $59 for single session | No GST
A six-week online writing series explores techniques, themes, and community celebration through sessions on reflection, storytelling, focus, tension, hero’s journey, perspective, and a finale party.
- Weekly sessions introduce writing techniques that include: reflective journaling, sprints, clusters, lists, time capsules, letters, character strengths, imagery, and poetry.
- Each session emphasizes themes such as noticing details, attraction and rejection, story tension and resolution, inner wisdom, and perspective by polishing our lens with gratitude.
- This series will culminate in a celebratory event that features: a shredder, community, and recognition of writers as thought leaders. Tell me — have you ever attended a party that features a shredder?
In this series, Lorraine will introduce you to different approaches to the page with insight, sensitivity, creativity and humour. Join our diverse and growing community of journal writers. Whether you are a seasoned journal writer or a never-ever writer who is curious and ready to commit, this series will bring you closer to your things that matter, in the privacy of your personal pages. In this series we focus on ‘the writing process’, not a polished product.
The Approach
Lorraine shares anecdotes and lived experience, and invites participants to customize journal writing for contemporary conversations. Drawing on her extensive experience as a practitioner of, and advocate for writing on a daily basis, she introduces tips, strategies and resources designed to promote clarity, foster confidence, and encourage authenticity as you narrate your own life story. With over 10,000 hours of writing experience, Lorraine brings humour, stories, insights, and lessons validated in peer reviewed research on the topics of writing, gratitude, aging and staging with grace.
If you’re interested in thinking on paper while honing your communications skills with greater optimism, a calmer mind and greater creativity, contact Lorraine today.
There are so many reasons to write… love, challenge, transition, grief, loss, or gratitude — writing in a journal will help you reveal yourself to your Self. Finding your voice, narrating your own story over a longer timeline takes discipline, stamina, patience while waiting for insight while you walk, reflect, talk and reconsider. From victim to denial to anger to acceptance; from “Poor-me as hero at my pity party” to “Gosh, I never thought of it that way!”; from rumination to generativity, from emotional overwhelm to regulation, writing is a useful tool for for thoughtful leaders who are willing to disconnect, find a quiet space and put an old fashioned pen to paper.
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.
Goal: You narrate and tell yourself stories that make sense of your life, understand your priorities, realize how you make decisions and keep growing into a writer, thinker, facilitator, influencer, thought leader that you can admire.[/vc_column_text]
Life Writing: Online Summer 2026
Summer 2026: Writing Reset Series:
Four Sundays
August 2, 9, 16, 23
08:30 – 10:00 AM Mountain Time (10:30 — noon, Eastern Time)
Online | Max. group size 10 people
Investment: $219 for series/ $59. single session. No GST
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 that can be gleaned by writing with a default to positivity, creativity, humility, self-awareness, and self-compassion on a regular basis. When done “write”, writing your way to gratitude is a profound act of self-care and a chance to narrate your life stories with brighter insight and authenticity.
Ninety minutes per session from 08:30 – 10:00 MT. (10:30 – noon ET)
Life Writing Tips & Tools
Maximum group size: 10.
Investment: $219./series. $59./single session
- Week 1: Reflective Writing: An Autobiographical approach. Types of narratives.
- Week 2: Memory: Real. Imagined. Shoddy. Evolving.
- Week 3: Glimmers and Gratitude: Generativity. Creativity. Legacy.
- Week 4: Authoring your Story: Identity. Authenticity. Leadership.
Outcomes Include:
- Fresh perspectives on the power of writing by hand.
- Reduced Stress. Greater Self-compassion.
- Greater Clarity, Self-awareness and Courage.
- Encouragement to keep writing and authoring your own life story.
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 – Single Session
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 me to stay focused on my things that really matter. Mostly, my pages are filled with anecdotes and names of people in different places reminding me to stay grateful — even when the head winds are strong and life is chaotic. Without a question, gratitude is my grounding agent, and the social glue fills the holes in my life, motivating me to keep going — and growing.” Lorraine