About the Building Strong Families Conference
Learn the foundational traits of strong marriages and families and how to build on the strengths your family already possesses. This fun, upbeat, informative, and research-based approach teaches the guiding principles and practical techniques for the six most common traits of strong, resilient families and marriages: Appreciation and Affection, Commitment, Creative Coping and Problem Solving, Time Together and Spiritual Wellness.
Seminar Schedule
The time frames and outline are a suggestion only and are fully adjustable to your needs. We can
adjust the title, as follows, or otherwise as you feel would be most
intriguing/suitable to your congregation.
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AGENDA |
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DETAILS |
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Friday
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| 6:00 p.m. |
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Registration Begins |
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| 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. |
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Introductory Seminar:
An upbeat, fun and informative intro to the strong family mindset and ACCCTS. Handout packet includes additional reading material to support and reinforce what is learned in this session. |
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| Saturday |
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| 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m |
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Full-Day Seminar:
The full-day seminar expands on the introduction, incorporates more interactive exercises, stories, examples, concepts, discussion and breaks. Workbook and handout packet includes worksheets, exercises, articles and additional resources to solidify what was learned and enhance retention long-after the seminar is complete. |
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| 8:30 to 9:00 |
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• Registration/Welcome
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| 9:00 to 10:15 |
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The Strong Family Mindset |
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The Strong Family Mindset is so much more than just a presentation of skills, techniques and ideas. There's a whole mindset shift that is required that is counter-intuitive to what most of us have learned and to what most of us do, but that IS intuitive and consistent with what most of us believe but don't fully practice in the daily walk of our faith. |
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Creating Lasting Change How to effectively introduce new behavior into old systems
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Getting past the resistance that causes most well-intentioned attempts fail and learn how to make changes that really stick and create "buy-in" from your spouse and your children.
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A: Appreciation & Affection
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Learn the way underutilized but oh so transformative power of appreciation. Jonathan shows you what the "magic ratio," grass, oil, diamonds and dirt have to do with gettting the most out of appreciation and affection.
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| 10:30 to 12:00 |
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C1: Commitment
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Learn how to create a Living Family Mission Statement that is engraved upon the hearts of each family member, not just beautifully framed but dead on the wall. Learn how strong families use this commitment to create an firm, calming, reassuring and confident identity that makes a safe harbor in the midst the uncertain storms of the world. |
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C2: Creative Coping & Problem Solving
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Strong families don't like suffering or conflict either. They don't like it so much that they get real creative in coping with life's struggles and family conflict in ways that increase their effectiveness in really solving their problems. |
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12:00 to 1:15
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Lunch Break |
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Chow time: Time to rest the mind and soul and feed the body! |
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| 1:30 to 2:45 |
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C3: Communication |
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Contrary to pop-psychology opinion, communication skills are not the fix they are touted as being. Learn how communication skills break down into thirds and the secrets that not only make communication really effective but also profound. |
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3:00 to 4:30
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T: Time Together
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Strong families know that "talking ain't walking." Strong families take time to make time. Jonathan shows you how to make the most of the time you have and how to make time when you don't think there's any time to do so. Learn how to create more quantity time, not just quality time. |
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S: Spiritual Wellness
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Spiritual wellness with our Faith is the foundational and driving force that keeps the rest of ACCCTS on track, keeps us encouraged to continue ACCCTS when we don't feel like it, reinforces our gains and how we re-center when we fall short. |
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Conclusion & Focusing |
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Learn how to take all that was learned and
1. how to quickly recall ACCCTS and utilize it in the moment when most greatly needed
2. How to maximize the use ACCCTS by preparation
3. Most importantly, how to focus ACCCTS into one target behavior and begin making lasting changes today. |
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Changed Lives! Clergy & Participant Testimonials
"One of the greatest relational tasks on life’s journey is building a strong family. We are committed to helping you keep those most sacred ties healthy and growing. Learning Jonathan Sherman’s key to relational wholeness will give you the tools to be the best partner, parent, or grandparent you can be, whether you are single or married, with or without children! These foundational skills apply to all core relationships! We look forward to meeting you and sharing in this exciting learning event!
–Rev. Janet Forbes
Audio Testimonial: Hear the full audio testimonial (1:34min) from her sermon Relationship: The Heart of Ministry Rev. Janet Forbes
Audio Testimonial: Hear the full audio testimonial (2:03min) from her sermon Celebrating Hearts for Ministry describing right relationship, trim tab, and Jonathan Sherman
"His keys to relational wholeness pertain to any and all configurations of family."
Rev. Marla Kauerz
St. Luke's United Methodist Church
Highlands Ranch, CO
From St. Luke's United Methodist's Chronicle:
David McFadden, M.A., M.S.
Village Counseling Centre
Humor. Easy to remember, teach and apply.
Bishop
"I appreciated the professional manner of setting this up this presentation: The follow-up phone calls, etc. The handouts are excellent! You were both very helpful and friendly. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us. We appreciate it so much. Thanks again. You guys are great!"
Bonnie D.
Ward Relief Society President
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Stake President
Seminary Teacher
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The presenter was dynamic and made us laugh. I liked the cartoons and personal examples. It was rejuvenating to think about how to strengthen my own family.
"I like the acronym ACCCTS. That really helps me remember things. This has also given me new perspective on how to help not only those I work with, but my own family as well."
At this time in our family's life we are having a lot of conflict. It was good to find out that we are a strong family.
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"Good, excellent, superb, brilliant, life-altering! I'm going to work on these things to improve my relationship with my wife. I'm taking an extra copy to share with my wife."
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"You have excellent presentation skills. You're good at engaging the audience and at fielding questions. Good flow. I study teachers and you did great!"
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Easy to understand. Great examples that are real life and applicable. Enthusiastic presenter!
"You're a very bad boy. I sat close to the door so I could leave early as I was tired. But you were so good and interesting that I couldn't help but stay!"
Great presenter. Enthusiastic. Interesting material.
"Jonathan, You have a wonderful way of pulling together information from so many sources and making the information so usable and real!" Sandy Jaussi
“Thanks! The presentation pretty much hit everything on the head! Realistic information — it made sense, it's workable. The ideas presented will fit into today's busy lifestyles. I really appreciate the handouts.”
"I got more out of this one workshop than I did out of eight months of therapy." 
Information presented in an informative, understanding, funny and positive way.
"Loved the emphasis on appreciation. Excellent all around. Thanks for all the positive suggestions!"
Jonathan, you have great energy and enthusiasm for your subject matter. That always makes a great presentation. The material was excellent. Great use of cartoons and examples.
I most liked the way to look at strengths and talk about it without feeling like it is just a "rah-rah" type of thing--concrete ways to get this across. Some personal "A-ha"s! THANK YOU! Good use of video! I am reading The Power of Intention, by Wayne Dyer, and this just fit in too perfectly. Thank you for NOT reading the slides!
"The presentation was solid, evidence-based and practical! Real life stuff. Excellent job!"
"I loved the information itself and the simplicity of the ideas. I loved the examples that helped me understand the concepts."
"It was simple, congruent and genuine. Permits a person in this field to view all that they do as not special or magical, only common sense. Anyone can apply ACCCTS to their lives and the truth of the matter is all should. The focus for me was to apply this to my life to be genuine." —Building Strong Family Workshop Participant
"Great principles. I liked the diamond, grass and oil analogies. Good job! Thanks."
"The presentation was excellent. I liked that the presentation of the materials was put into lay mans terms which made it easy to understand. I just wish we had more time. I could listen for hours."
"I loved Jonathan's presentation style. Putting the info into "real-life experience." Pulling in participation from audience. Great use of humor. Jonathan used humor to keep everyone engaged--that was fun. Provided opportunities for interactions. Used video presentations effectively."
"You have a great presentation style. You're very easy to listen to. The part about being positive and praising your children was something I really need to implement in my life. I love the humor. It was wonderful. I liked the nice, casual approach. It isn't intimidating and makes you feel comfortable."
Good energy. Jonathan is one positive, happy person!
"I remembered something we were talking about in class about sending/giving out a compliment or appreciation at a moment least expected. It's been very effective not only in my personal relationships but its been great for my business as well."
—Karl Christen
One on One Mortgage
"I tend to be over scrutinous of workshops because I have done so many myself and the weaknesses stick out readily to me. However, yours was exceptional!! It had great content that was both extensive and well-packaged in a concise manner. You had good pacing of material with the time allotment. I enjoyed the level of energy, humor, and knowledge base of the speaker. I liked the variety of the presentation content: Didactic, use of video, PowerPoint (w/ cartoons which I love), and quotes. Good audience participation. VERY practical concepts.Thank you!
About Jonathan
Jonathan D. Sherman, MS, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist, executive relationship consultant, sought-after speaker and author. He is the founder of Bardos Relationship Consulting where he specializes:
1. In helping couples create greatness in their relationships through marriage transformation, parent training and self-mastery; and
2. in helping organizations increase productivity, employee retention and customer satisfaction through the development of a skillful work/family balance in their leaders and employees lives.
While he thoroughly enjoys his work with the corporations and organizations he consults for he most especially loves his work with faith-based communities where he feels he gets to "preach to the choir" with those who are deeply invested in allowing spiritual principles to improve their marriages and families.
In addition to the hundreds of articles he has written to help people develop relationship greatness, over 60,000 people subscribe to his monthly Great Relationships eZine.
He is married to a lovely and skilled husband trainer who has truly earned her keep. They live in eternal bliss (okay, fairly peaceably) with their four children in the Rocky Mountains of Utah.
Here you will find a brief bio sketch that outlines Jonathan's background and experience further.
You can also see and print Jonathan's full vita that contains all his speaking engagements, credentials, education and experience.
Fees
$1,500 plus expenses (travel, lodging, meals). One third of the fee is requird as a deposit to reserve your date with the remainder of the fee to be paid upon my arrival.
Naturally, my corporate fees are three times this fee, however, I have a special place in my heart for the great work that clergy and faith-based organziations are engaged in (simply because of ALL that the Lord has done for me daily in my life) and if I could afford to I'd do it completely pro-bono. Fortunately, and gladly, I currently donate a considerable amount of my professional time on a pro-bono basis to the local civic, educational and faith communities that shelter my family.
Alternative fee adjustments/arrangements are occassionally made on a case-by-case basis. Many of my friends and colleagues are clergy of various faiths and I am sensitive to the budgetary constraints most churches have and I want to work with your church or synogogue to make this a win-win for both of us financially. We can approach this in a few different ways. What usually seems to be the most helpful is to know your budget for such a marriage weekend and/or what you have paid others in similar circumstances or for similar services. This way, instead of just quoting you a flat fee (like I would for corporations) that may or may not work for your church's resources, I can then often adjust the scope of the work that would be entailed to fit what is realistic for your budget. Contact me and let me know your thoughts in this area and what is realistic for your organization.
I look forward to hearing from you and meeting you.
Grace and peace,
Jonathan
Ask Marla how they are breaking even, what they are charging.
Send this out to every United Methodist church first, and then begin seeking mailing lists from other faiths
compare to familylife.com's Weekend to Remember for ideas...
they charge 119 per person for 2 1/2 days.
I'm looking forward to working together and being of service to your
congregation.
"There is great delight that you will be
with us."
Customize Your Weekend to Meet Your Congregations Needs
Twelve of Jonathan's most popular workshops, with brief descriptions, can be viewed and printed here: http://bardos.net/Services/RWS/RWS.html.
I have done many other ones on different topics customized to the needs of various corporate, professional, faith and community organizations as needed. For example, most recently, as part of a
collaboration between community leaders and an interfaith council to proactively reach out to the community through upbeat and informative workshops to strengthen families I developed a new workshop entitled Successful Second Marriages: How to Really Live Happily Ever After.
Just let me know if there's anything that you'd like further
information.
Who is the BSF Training for?
Corporate & Team Leaders
These principles are not just for families and marriages. They are effective for any relationship where two or more people (with different personalities, etc) are working towards a common goal.
Those seeking greater Work and Family Balance
Breadwinners:
You can learn during your lunch break or commute.
Homemakers
Learn while doing chores or running errands or while taking a much-needed and well-deserved break.
Family Leaders (Mother and Father)
Here are three proven ways to make progress from BSF
What does the BSF Course cover?
Everything you need to know to build a strong family, a strong marriage, great relationships.
What is the format of the BSF Course?
o Convenient mp3 audio files which are easy to listen to through your computer, burn to a CD to listen to in your car's CD player, or download into your iPod or mp3 player.
o Related articles, handouts and worksheets.
Are you ready? Are you ready to help strengthen the families in your congregation like never before?
Give your congregants proven strategies driven by guiding principles and made realistic by practical techniques that they can use in their every day lives.
Give your congregation a common rlationship language they can support each other with that harmoniously fits with the the Word of God that you teach and pastor them in.
Give your congregation an easy to remember and thus easier to integrate relationship model that is not only backed by years of solid research and in-the-trenches experience but is also perfectly consistent with spiritual truth as revealed in God's Word.
This program was developed by a Marriage and Family Therapist with a solid formal religious education in conjuction with a Pastor with over 30 years experience as a clergy member who later also trained as Marriage and Family Therapist
Jonathan's schedule fills quickly. Reserve your Marriage Weekend Conference today.
