Sara Dimerman, psychologist
BIOGRAPHY
Sara Dimerman is a psychologist, author and creator of www.helpmesara.com and www.refertome.ca
For more than thirty years, she has helped families deal with a variety of concerns and difficult dynamics. For the past ten years, Sara has hosted the Experts Connect with HelpMeSara podcast on topics of interest to individuals, parents and families. Since the start of the pandemic, Sara has seen a sharp increase in the need for mental health services, and has responded to this need – in her private practise, by producing relevant podcasts, writing blogs on various topics and creating Refer To Me.
Over the course of her career, Sara has facilitated support groups and presented on many different topics at schools, organizations and groups.
She also offers her expertise to the media on various topics but of late, especially on how to navigate previously uncharted waters during the pandemic. Some of these segments were heard on CBC Radio, Zoomer Radio, and Sirius XM.
Sara is a married mom to two adult daughters – one who has been working from her own home during the pandemic and another who has had to adjust to learning online while living away on campus.
WORKSHOPS
How to help families survive and thrive, at home, school and beyond pandemic ups and downs
Speakers: Sara Dimerman, psychologist & Janyce Lastman, LL.B.
Over the course of the session, Sara and Janyce will blend their areas of expertise to cover both home and school related topics, especially as they apply to pandemic ups and downs, adapted for whatever phase of COVID we may find ourselves in, by that time.
Sara will focus on how emotional ups and downs during the pandemic have impacted home life and families. She will also talk about how we have managed this period and what factors contribute to successful outcomes. She will offer practical tips that mental health workers and other professionals may share with their clients, in addition to ones they can use themselves, to continue to survive and thrive through pandemic ups and downs.
Janyce takes a practical, accessible approach to all her presentations, and promotes positive solutions to education and parenting-related matters. From the time COVID-19 initially shuttered classrooms worldwide in March 2020, she began systematically tracking and evaluating new ideas and practical solutions for classroom and community use. She will discuss how mental health professionals can help clients continue to ride this curve that has no definable end nor any predictable patterns. Examples of accessible and much-needed small-scale solutions will be discussed to share with clients (and perhaps use for themselves!) to survive and thrive during and post-COVID. She will reference cutting-edge best practices for effective instruction and cross-communication, an overview of new but essential tools for e-learning, and basic survival strategies for schools, teachers, families and students alike.
Key Take-aways
- That change, while sometimes difficult to manage, can also be "good" and often moves us to a heightened level of awareness in regards to our inner and outer resources.
- That being in the same boat as one another, so to speak, equalizes the playing ground and highlights that we are all human beings, with similar and "normal" struggles as one another
- That with the right support and strategies in place, we can overcome adversity, develop greater compassion and empathy towards one another and become more resilient.
- That by learning how to deal with uncertainty, and to ride the wave during the ups and downs of the pandemic, we can better equip our clients to do the same.
- That there is always something new to learn and that by staying current and open to new information, we are better able to better navigate these unchartered waters.