Andrews Air force
Base/Behavioral Medicine Services
[Half-day "Stress, Conflict and Team Building" Program]
Feb 19, 2011
This testimonial is a group card sent by a number of the
participants. Both the personal statements and the words of the
Hallmark Card deserve highlighting. Needless to say, I feel humbled and
truly touched by the heartfelt sharing.
The Hallmark Card
Some
have a gift for helping others to see the world as a place of possibility...
Some impart wisdom or comfort and care. Some point out the path, and some
take
you there.
Some warm the heart with a human touch. You have all
these gifts...
Thank you so much.
Some Workshop Participants
I
was "stressed out" when came and I felt "healed" when you left. Thank you
for being a help to the helpers.
Thank you for providing us with a
much-needed and very enjoyable afternoon.
Thanks for the information and
entertaining presentation.
You are an inspiration to me and also my
colleagues. Sincerely,
Fran
Frances Martinsen, RN
Intensive Addictions Services Intake Coordinator
779 MDOS/SGOW
Malcolm
Grow Medical Center
1050 W. Perimeter Rd
Andrews AFB, MD 20762
(240) 857-8227
frances.martinsen@afncr.af.mil
Ft. Belvoir, VA/Family Advocacy Program
and Army Community Services
["Stress
and Conflict" for FAP and "Generational Communication, Leadership and Team
Building" for ACS staff]
November 22,
2010
Mr.Gorkin, I collected a few comments from the office staff. I
figured you could use these to show just how great your training is. I really
must say I mostly enjoyed your great sense of humor and the creative learning
pieces are priceless. Keep up the great work and come back anytime you wish. You
are welcomed here at ACS. Thank you for an awesome time.
Best wishes,
Sandra Mclean
Family Advocacy Specialist
Army Community Services
703-805-2693
"I enjoyed the process of developing a visual representation
of the barriers to creativity and risk taking. that our team experienced."...Laureen
DuPree
"Wow what a great way to look at things such as team building and
the bureaucracies that we all face. Glad you came Mr.Gorkin".....Sandra
"I thought it was very affective and fun!"....Breva Spencer
"It was
helpful, and Loved that it was interactive. Keep up the Good work!!"...Nicole
"The morning session was very informative..and thought provoking. My FAP
team really enjoyed this training session and we love the visual affects...put
the drawing up on my wall.."...FAPM
---------------
ESP Corp--Engineering
Solutions and Products, Inc.
[Half-day team building offsite -- "Transforming Stress, Conflict and Change
into Creative Teaming" -- for 50+ Managers (mostly ex-military, former
high-level NCOs); Dallas, TX; major government contractor to DOD/armed services]
Feb 17, 2010
Mark,
On behalf of Engineering Solutions & Products Incorporated, and all of the
participants from our Dallas Offsite in January 2010, we would like to extend
our heartfelt “Thank You.” Although our workshop was only a half day, you
ensured it was packed full of energy and attention-grabbing topics and
information. We believe that better communications is the key to success and
your presentation really drove home that point. The best thing of all was that
your presentation was totally in synch with the company’s values and how the
President/CEO expects his Senior and Junior Level Managers to interface with
employees. The exercises were outstanding and I could see our participants
wanting to have their data shared with the group. Participants were so
motivated by the presentation that you received a well-deserved standing ovation
by all. Thank you for spending time with us the previous day in order to get a
better understanding of ESP and our corporate values – it meant a lot to the
team that you went above and beyond to make the presentations meaningful to
all. We gained a lot from this team building/better communications workshop and
look forward to working with you at future events.
Again, thank you!
Gary Livero
ESP, Inc
VP of Operations
Eatontown, NJ
Gary.Livero@espcorp.org
---------------------
02/01/10
Mark, I like the ideas – I think they're great! You are very welcome! Gary [ESP
Vice President] really enjoyed it and made the comment about how he personally
enjoyed it. He asked and everyone acknowledged how they enjoyed the
seminar...they really enjoyed the event; I have received many laudable comments!
It was a lot of fun; I personally love the drawing event. We have them here at
the corporate office and are going to have them framed! When you come back in
March will have you out at our corporate office. Let me know when you get in, we
can have dinner together. Glad to see that you made it safe to Cleveland. Stay
in touch!
v/r, Henry
Henry R. Vance III
DPM & Project Leader for FBCB2/BFT & ISYSCON
Engineering Solutions and Products, Inc.
Office: 254-634-4999 Ext: 120
Kileen/Ft. Hood, TX
henry.vance@espcorp.org
henry.vance@us.army.mil
------------------
13th Expeditionary
(HQ) Support Command, Ft. Hood, TX
(Half-Day "Communications and Team Building" Predeployment/Offsite program and
after dinner speech on "Motivational Humor" for 70 senior officers, senior
sergeants and spouses)
04/06/2009
Mark, Sorry it has taken me a week to get back to you...one of those weeks...we
will definitely look into seeing how we can get you into theater to experience
the "combat" side of stress..you definitely were instrumental in setting the
stage for our conference and achieved more than I could have ever expected with
respect to building our Team...as you saw, we are a unique organization
consisting of Soldiers in the Active, Reserve and National Guard who generally
don't have the opportunity to get together until we meet in theater.......the
exercises you provided during the seminar and the excellent dinner session
really hit the mark, and provided us with some very useful concepts/tools as we
continue to do the spade work in building an effective Team....in an
organization like this, that is a never ending task...thanks again for making
time for us....you provided a wonderful service and laid the
foundation---definitely consider you a valued member of the 13th..will
definitely stay in touch and yell if--when:) we need some more from the Stress
Doc!!!
R,
Paul
Wentz, Paul BG (Brigadier General) MIL USA FORSCOM
13th Expeditionary (HQ) Support Command, Ft. Hood, TX
paul.wentz@us.army.mil
---------------------
15th
Sustainment Brigade, 1st Cavalry, Ft. Hood, TX
[Stress, Change and Team-Building Program for 40 Officers and Spouses]
From: Phelps, Lawrence COL MIL USA FORSCOM <lawrence.phelps@us.army.mil>
To:
StressDoc@aol.com
Sent: Mon, 28 Jul 2008
Subject: Thanks Mark!
Mark:
What a great program you engineered at our Command Offsite! It could not have
been better if we had orchestrated it! Your session on managing change and
stress was the perfect lead-in to the work we had to accomplish throughout the
conference. It set the conditions for the free, uninhibited work (regardless of
rank) that we needed. Our “drawing” exercise was absolutely enlightening. I
cannot tell you how valuable it was to me as the “CEO” to see these products and
see how the differing sections and commands worked together. The spouses loved
the briefing and the interaction just as much as the uniformed members did.
Here’s the BLUF: Your session was the critical building block on which we built
the rest of the conference.
My sincere thanks. Job well done.
COL Phelps
COL Larry Phelps
Commander, 15th SB
Work: 254-287-8250
Cell: 254-702-1318
Every Day...Better!
SUPPORT THE ACTION!
------------------
U.S. Army -- Family
Readiness Group
3rd
Brigade Combat Team
1st Cavalry Division
FT. Hood, TX
[150 spouse and service personnel; "Stress & Humor" program for military spouses
of soldiers recenly sent to Iraq]
Nov. 1, 2006
Mark,
Thank you again for your fabulous workshop! Everyone I have spoken with today
thoroughly enjoyed it.
I'm not sure what will happen with the gal you spoke with from 3rd Corps, but
I'm sure if it is something she means to pursue that she will be in touch. She
has my info as well so I can direct her your way if she contacts me.
Once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. The Stress Doc presentation
was everything I had hoped it would be. I have some nice shots and will forward
them along after I do a bit of editing....
Take care and hope you had a smooth trip home. Enjoy your upcoming travels!
Sincerely,
Laurie
Laurie Dunlop
lkdunlop@hotmail.com
Program Coordinator
----------------
Mark,
Great presentation this week. We needed that. Laurie was so right in bringing
you down. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Larry Phelps
COL Larry Phelps
Commander, 1CD Rear
Work: 254-287-3782
Every Day...Better
"Managing Everything in the Rear, so that 1CD Can Focus Forward."
------------------------
Ft.
Meade, MD/Army Community Service
Stress Management /Keynote
Presenter for Child Abuse Awareness Month
On behalf of Army Community Service at Fort Meade, I would like to extend my
sincere appreciation for your valuable presentation on stress management. You
reached out to our staff with your comedy message in a way that will be
everlasting for the Fort Meade community.
Your humor and sincerity certainly touched us in ways that I could not have
achieved in my briefings. I was told by many of the folks who attended this
presentation that it exceeded their expectations and they absolutely enjoyed the
rap performance that closed out the show.
Once again, thank you for your appearance and the encouragement that you gave
while here at Fort Meade. I highly recommend you for other military
installations and look forward to working with you again in the future.
Sincerely,
Celena Flowers, LCSW, ACSW
Family Advocacy Program Manager
office: 301-677-4357
cell: 240-688-6691
celena.flowers@us.army.mil
-----------------------
Transforming Stress, Change and Conflict into Creative Teaming:
The Art and Science of Engaging and Inspiring Leadership and Partnership
Today's 24/7, "always on" world often cycles between "do more with less"
downsizing and ever faster upgrading...and can even appear to be spinning out of
control. How do you counter a tendency to hold rigidly on to the familiar; how
do you help people get better organized, productively coordinate in the present
and creatively grapple with the future? How do you foster resilience over
resistance? Are you ready to cultivate communication and conflict resolution
skills that affirm your integrity and also set appropriate boundaries while
being compassionate? Learn key psychological skills for managing the
uncertainty of change. It’s a challenging work climate…still, have no fear the
Mark Gorkin, MSW, LICSW, the "Stress Doc" ™ is here. The Doc delivers a unique
blend of dynamic and inspiring presentation along with thought-provoking and
passionate, purposeful and playful group interaction to help you bring "Fire,
Focus and FUN" to today's leadership challenges. During these turbulent
times, let the Stress Doc help you break down barriers and build bridges toward
greater confidence in your leadership competence. Learn tools and techniques
for generating a more creative, more fun and a higher performing workplace.
Outline/Objectives:
A. Getting Organized and Confronting Procrastination
1. Why We Procrastinate
2. Overcoming Procrastination Exercise and “Emancipation Procrastination” Strategies
B. Disarming Power Struggles
1. “You Can’t Make Me” Exercise
2. Four “R” Communication Skills for Disarming Dysfunctional Struggle While Building Trust
C. Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Style Inventory
1. Learning Conflict Styles and “The Triple ‘A’ of Individual & Professional Responsibility
2. Using T-K to TKO Communication Breakdowns Exercise
Break
D. Managing Loss and Change
1. Six “F”s for Helping Manage Loss and Change – for Self and Others
2. Drawbacks and Opportunities Generated by Change Exercise
D. Handling a Critical Aggressor
1. “Fumbled the Data” Exercise
2. Key Communication Skills for Professionally and Effectively Giving and Receiving Feedback
E. 3-D Team Building
1. Team Discussion-Drawing-Diversity Exercise: Identifying Stress/Conflict Barriers and Bridges
2. Show & Tell; Consultation Problem-Solving Exercise and Team Building Structures/Strategies