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June 28, 2023. The Power of Positive Gossip.
Evidence shows that helping others can have a positive effect on your own mental health and wellbeing. Gossip can be a good thing, depending on what we are saying. Let’s change the negative things we say about others to positive, empowering messages about others.
Download the PowerPoint presentation here.
Find photos from the event on our Facebook page.
Meet the Speakers:
Cristina Jiménez
Cristina is a Therapist at Courageous Healing. She was born in California but raised on the south side of Fort Wayne, IN. Cristina graduated from Purdue Fort Wayne with a Master’s in Counseling Education. Her approach to therapy is using a culturally sensitive and trauma-informed lens to understand her clients and their experiences. She has had the opportunity to develop her skills and knowledge base while working alongside adults, teens, and the elderly in the social services field for about 5 years, with some of that spent working for YWCA Northeast Indiana as the Education Coordinator.
Cristina believes in empowering individuals, normalizing mental health and help seeking behaviors, and education. She has a passion for advocacy and for helping minority communities, particularly the Latino community. She is bilingual and uses her skills to support her clients and their families needs.
Some notes from Cristina's message:
Gossip can be a good thing: fun, used to build trust, educational
With trauma, ‘drama’ is often the norm. This can be referred to a chaos loop. Years of high cortisol from stress can lead to long term illness and emotional addiction.
Refer to slide about emotional immaturity vs. emotional maturity.
There are many ways to engage empathy.
Refer to slide about emotionally connecting with someone.
Open curiosity provides connection and a deeper understanding of other people’s perspectives. Everyone has their own set of glasses that frame their worldview, and someone else’s prescription likely won’t work for you, just like with glasses.
With the words we say, we either construct somebody, or deconstruct somebody.
Use self-awareness, growth, and positive gossip as a unifier to build positive connections.
Tishamarie Strasser
Tishamarie (statistic turned CEO of “Bring It, Push It, Own It”) tells her story of how she stopped being the victim and became her own hero. She has 10 years of experience that includes starting a non profit that helps girls, women, the disability community, and athletes discover their true passion, power, and purpose. She now helps others step out of their own story and discover how to be their own heroes. Using her mentoring, neuroencoding certification, and lived experience, Tishamarie is here to get you off of your roundabout and ready to rise up and be your own hero!
Turning a life of trauma, chronic illness and pain into a purpose driven life filled with passion and joy.
Some notes from Tishamarie's message:
Women have a natural tendency to use gossip to connect.
Real communication is much more uncomfortable than gossip, but in those uncomfortable conversations, we grow together.
Women who are self assured often face judgement.
Surround yourself with women who are different than you. The last thing we should do in life is “clicking-up”. By embracing and learning from different perspectives, we grow.
Celebrate wins, no matter how big or small! By sharing accomplishments we are leading by example.
There is a scarcity mindset, but please know we are not in competition with other women.
Positive gossip is a conversation that feels good, provides connection and builds networks. This is how we (women) can control the narrative.