Keynotes
Dancing with Disability
Angharad was in her 20s when she was diagnosed with Endometriosis, in her 30s she was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis and in her 50s when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. All 3 conditions erupted at the same time in her teens but due to the vagaries of the Health System and prejudice from Medical Specialists, symptoms were dismissed and diagnoses ignored. Angharad juggled full-time work as a psychologist at the pointy end of the Community Service sector for over 30 years until she finally had to face the fact that she had become disabled and prematurely medically retired from work.
In this keynote, Angharad talks about the impact of (dis)ability in an ableist world and how one piece of crucial technology changed her life. She calls on everyone to examine their prejudices, their preconceived ideas and their assumptions about disability; exchange them for celebration and to rejoice in the freedom that an open mind, a bit of lateral thinking and a whole lot of goodwill can create.
Ethical Leadership
The vast majority of people who end up in management positions do so because they have been good practitioners in their fields. Moving into a Management position is the common way of advancement but there is often very little in the way of preparation for this role. Leadership is not Management. Management is about process, Leadership is about people but the two are often conflated. In this Keynote, Angharad challenges participants to think widely and deeply about how they may need to alter what they are doing to lead with the Human Condition in mind. When we understand and respond to the humanity of our teams and institutions, whatever the sector we work in, our work product is transformed. Teams are motivated to work together, individuals feel valued and supported and the bottom line is enhanced.
The Quest for Resilience
In a world where anxiety is at an all-time high, offence is taken at the drop of a hat, trigger warnings are posted everywhere, and keyboard warriors shout everybody down, the research is clear; resilience is waning. Angharad was so concerned she wrote a book about it; Bugger Bugger Shit; my quest for resilience. This keynote is an exploration of what makes us resilient and how we can all make an active choice towards resilience.
How we can turn down the volume on the critics and amplify the voices of the encouragers, the champions, the cheerleaders. If anyone can show us how to do this, it’s Angharad. Diagnosed with three incurable & degenerative diseases, walking through the deaths in close succession of multiple friends and family members and working for over 30 years with some of our community’s most vulnerable members, she has not only survived but thrived.
The Truth About Trauma
Trauma is everywhere, it’s in the air that we breathe and the ground that we walk upon. We have all journeyed alongside trauma; whether it be our own trauma, our experience of generational trauma or vicarious trauma. And yet trauma is one of the least recognised and understood experiences of the human condition. We have all heard the phrase “trauma-informed” but what does that really mean when trauma walks into the room?How do we respond? What do we think? Responding to trauma is not taught in university, it’s not taught at TAFE, it’s not taught in schools. Even though we all experience it, we have no idea what to do with it. Whilst we have specialised Trauma Trained Therapists, there are not enough, and they need our help. This keynote is possibly the most important presentation you will ever attend, as Angharad walks you through a simple understanding of trauma and how we can all effectively respond to it with insight and compassion.
Radical Compassion
“We can’t all do everything, but we can all do something”. Angharad Candlin “Bugger Bugger Shit: my quest for resilience. Often, when we look at the world, we can be overwhelmed by the tragedy and disaster we see. We hear about one woman a week dying at the hands of her current or former intimate partner; we see news stories about women not being able to access terminations because of archaic laws; we see children being suspended and expelled from school in Kindergarten. These are all symptoms of a world that has lost the way of compassion.
We have lost the art of listening to understand and replaced it with listening to respond. In this Keynote, Angharad talks about the fundamental need we all have for connection. When we look at our communities in terms of what they can give to us and not what we can give to them, then we have lost our way. We can’t change the world, but we can change our response to it. When we can change our minds and when we change ourselves, we are committing to taking one step at a time towards compassion and connection.
Walking Gently Through Loss and Grief
Angharad is no stranger to loss and grief; her sister died at age 22 from cancer when Angharad was 20; 5 friends, her brother-in-law and her dad died of cancer in close succession; she has experienced infertility and disability. Through her work in the community as a psychologist for over 30 years, Angharad has walked alongside countless numbers of clients who have experienced loss and grief.
In this Keynote, Angharad invites attendees to consider their pre-conceived ideas about grief, challenge the language that is used and consider how we can all simply walk alongside those who are grieving.
Parenting in the Chaos of Life
Ever feel like you have no idea what you’re doing when it comes to parenting your children? Angharad is a parenting expert with over 30 years experience as a psychologist. There is nothing she doesn’t know about child development and parenting. She has worked with thousands of parents and has trained hundreds of practioners. In this Keynote, Angharad talks about the fundamentals of child development and how parents and carers can truly meet the needs of their children where they’re at.
Transformative Listening: Shifting from Responding to Understanding
Life is busy. We are pushed and pulled with demands, deadlines and decisions. We hear sound bites on the news, and we talk about keyboard warriors. We see the results of miscommunication everywhere. Is it really miscommunication or is it missed communication?
In this keynote, Angharad challenges us to evaluate the impact of listening to respond rather than listening to understand. Human beings are “hardwired for connection” (Allan Schore) and when we stop listening to each other we breed disconnection. Now, more than ever, we need to build connection. To listen to each other deeply and seek to understand. When we are able to step back from the busyness for a moment, we find that we are more similar than different. We become more compassionate and resilient. One conversation at a time, we can literally change the world.
The Power of an Enquiring Mind and a bit of Lateral Thinking; true disability design
Angharad grew up watching Dr Who. The Daleks were a terrifying force… until they came to a staircase. Somewhere between her childhood and the revamp of Dr Who when she was an adult, technology advanced and suddenly a flight of stairs was no barrier for a Dalek intent on exterminating.
When Angharad was a child she knew she could beat the Daleks because she had a pair of functional legs and could escape up the stairs. As an adult, gradually her legs stopped working quite so well but unlike the Daleks whose plot to exterminate the world grew increasingly larger, her accessible world grew smaller. Not because she has MS, not because she has a wheelchair (albeit the Ferrari of wheelchairs) but because the people who design her world don’t understand her world.
In this Keynote, Angharad challenges her audience to truly understand accessibility. With no judgement (well maybe just a little) and plenty of humour, she demonstrates some of the most inaccessible “accessible” designs and innovations. She encourages the audience to be open minded and curious about what (dis)ability really means. She asks them to combine their creative minds and come up with solutions to some of the most common (and frustrating) inaccessible “accessible” problems.
The Anatomy of Domestic Violence
This keynote draws on Angharad’s work in the community service sector for over 30 years, in particular her work alongside victim-survivors and perpetrators of domestic abuse. Her book, The Anatomy of Domestic Violence: Emily’s story, unpacks the experiences of her best friend who experienced nearly 4 decades of domestic abuse. Angharad reflects on the systems that failed Emily and her children. This Keynote is a call to action to understand, respond to and prevent domestic violence and coercive control.
