Upcoming Education Topics - 2026

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January 10: When Grief Boils Over

Caring for a loved one through illness or loss can evoke guilt, fear, and grief—often complicating relationships and straining family dynamics. This workshop provides DBT-based calming techniques, tools for managing family relationships, and communication skills to ease tension and reduce potential conflict.

 

Presented by Molly Darsow, mediator and owner of Still Waters Mediation, with a background in counseling and group facilitation that informs her professional approach to conflict resolution.

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February 14: Long-Term Care Planning

In this presentation you will learn about Medicare, Medicaid (MA), Veterans Benefits, and Long-term Care Insurance. You will learn what resources are available and how to build a plan to pay for care that’s not covered by Medicare.

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Presented by Mary Frances Price, an elder law attorney based in Minnetonka, MN.

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March 14: A Dementia Presence-tation

In this presentation, Ann will use true stories to illustrate successful approaches to side-step conflict, communicate effectively, and enhance safety and engagement. She feels the #1 tool we can bring to dementia care is our peaceful presence which is easy to say, but hard to accomplish. She will offer a formula for MASTERING dementia and fostering a peaceful presence.

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Presented by Ann Olson, OTR/L, author of Making Peace with Dementia: An Occupational Therapist’s Formula for Optimizing Care and Restoring Calm.

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April 11: Storytelling, Literature and Music When Caring For Self and Others

Stories evoke stories. Music can be healing - both laments or the blues and songs or sounds that lift spirits. Many of us yearn for words to describe losses, caregiving for others, and even our many moods. Participants in this session will experience multiple resources that foster well-being when caring for self and others. Bring your own examples to the session.

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Presented by Ted Bowman, a grief and family educator whose focus is on disruptive changes and the resulting loss and grief that occurs.

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May 9: Self-Acupressure for Stress Management

In this session, you will learn how acupressure can be a powerful tool for self-healing in times of stress. Dr. Christensen will describe the theory behind acupressure and demonstrate how the use of specific acupoints can help to encourage calm, reduce the impact of stress, and promote resiliency. There will be an opportunity to participate in a guided sequence of self-acupressure, breathing, and visualization.

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Presented by Dr. Kim Christensen, a Licensed Acupuncturist and Chinese medicine herbalist, instructor at the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing, and co-owner of Constellation Acupuncture & Healing Arts in Minneapolis.

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June 13: Building Foundations of Caregiving

This class explores the role of the caregiver and changes they may experience, how to build a support team and ways to manage caregiver stress.

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Presented by Jenna Fink, Alzheimer’s Association, Minnesota-North Dakota Chapter.

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July 11: TBD

We're dutifully collecting results from the Second Saturday Education Survey sent in our November and December 2025 newsletters and working on bringing education that reflects your needs and concerns for this month.​

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August 8: TBD

We're dutifully collecting results from the Second Saturday Education Survey sent in our November and December 2025 newsletters and working on bringing education that reflects your needs and concerns for this month.​

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September 12: Melodies for the Mind: How Music Supports the Aging Brain

Although the impacts of music often feel like magic, they are rooted in science and neurology. Come join a board-certified music therapist from Keynote Music Therapy in learning about the growing field of music therapy and ways to intentionally utilize music in your daily life.​

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Presented by Carolyn Meyer, MT-BC, a board-certified music therapist with Keynote Music Therapy.

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October 10: TBD

We're dutifully collecting results from the Second Saturday Education Survey sent in our November and December 2025 newsletters and working on bringing education that reflects your needs and concerns for this month.​

 

November 14: TBD

We're dutifully collecting results from the Second Saturday Education Survey sent in our November and December 2025 newsletters and working on bringing education that reflects your needs and concerns for this month.​

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December 12: Communicating Effectively

This class teaches how dementia affects communication, including tips for communicating well with family, friends and health care professionals.

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Presented by Jenna Fink at the Alzheimer’s Association, Minnesota/North Dakota Chapter.