The Widows Empowerment Coaching Club
A very special monthly membership program
via Zoom, for women who are ready to reclaim
& reinvent
life after widowhood.
Brought to you by Iris Arenson-Fuller, PCC, CPC
Your Life & Loss Transformation/
Life Reinvention Coach
Owner of Vision Powered Coaching & WidowsCoach.com
Learn to Roar As You Rebuild Your Life-In Spite of Grief & Loss!
Are you a woman who has been widowed at least 6-12 months,
or any amount of time beyond that? This group could be just right for you.
Come figure out who you want to become in this next phase of your life..
You may not have chosen how things are, but you can choose to live a good life.
Are large groups too impersonal for you, or too depressing because so many of the members seem to be stuck in misery even after years of widowhood, and that scares and upsets you? Come join us.
Are large groups too impersonal for you, or too depressing because so many of the members seem to be stuck in misery even after years of widowhood, and that scares and upsets you? Come join us.
This is not just a grief group. We all share and understand grief. It's more. It's a group where widowhood is the underlying theme that unites us, but we tackle the present and the future. We work on understanding, self-improvement and empowerment for all of our widowed sisters in the group.
We don't do Pity Parties. There may be times when a member is down in the dumps and needs extra support or coaching. Members usually notify me of topics in advance that they'd like to discuss. Sometimes the coaching arises organically, as we share during the session. We work together on the task of rebuilding and figuring out ways to live in as positive and fulfilling ways as possible. Members bring their life challenges and not all have to do with grief or widowhood.
The sooner you sign up, the sooner you can participate in our very next session. At this time, our monthly sessions are held at 5 PM Eastern Time on the third Sunday of each month. Members are encouraged to RSVP and attend all sessions, but when they can't, they will receive an audio recording. At present, we do Zoom live sessions.
When you join as a regular member, you will have access to our monthly (confidential) calls and to our secret Facebook group, as well as being added to our larger grief group that is active on a daily basis. I offer some other perks to our monthly paid members at different times too
.Among other things, I have a private conversation with all new or prospective members and may sometimes give extra private time FREE to a member who needs it. (A value of $100-$200, depending on the time involved) That is not something at all typical for coaches. Members who wish to hire me further for one-to-one coaching will also receive a nice discount on the usual fees. Members of this group have email access to me, that I don't normally give to the larger widows community, except in very unique circumstances.
Find the Old You Again, or Create the New You
Come join our sisterhood. Participate from the comfort of your own home, via a special phone # or web link. We now do Zoom sessions.
- We will work on creative and meaningful ways that resonates with you, to honor your departed spouse, if that is something you would like to do.
- Work on letting go of some pieces of your past, with great respect and love.
- Become more proficient in the practice of gratitude, to enrich your own life.
- Recognize and cultivate the heightened value, and even sweetness of life that comes with grief and loss, but do it without guilt.
- Learn about self-care that goes beyond getting a manicure or a massage.
- Improve communications with friends or family, if you feel you need to, and learn how to set clearer boundaries.
- And whatever other meaningful topics, ideas, exercises and goal-setting that you bring to this wonderful community.
- We will also get to know the other members, to bond as we form a tight community of support.
When: We generally schedule our group call for the 3nd Sunday of the month at 5 PM Eastern Time.
Come join us!
When you register and pay to join, ( with PayPal or Credit Card) I will confirm the date and time and will provide all of the call-in or browser log-on details. Please check to coordinate with your own time zone.
Members should plan to attend all scheduled sessions of the club, in order to get the maximum benefit. However, if you should have to miss an occasional call, you will have access to the recording of the group session. These calls or Zoom sessions are always private and confidential and for paid members only. They are not to be shared with others. Everything that happens inside of our group is very confidential and that must be honored at all times.
If you are already a member of one of my larger groups, are a client, a former client, your fee will never go up, though it may increase for other new members in the future.
Remember that new members are only admitted periodically, so group participants can get to know each other. Membership is open now.
Who You Are
- You are a widow who is sick of feeling so bad all the time.
- You’re ready to work at building your new life, in spite of your grief.
- You really want more help figuring out how to navigate the rest of this unpredictable grief journey.
- You want to “Rise from the Ashes”, but you don’t know how to do this on your own, and worry that it won’t ever happen.
- You feel adrift and lost after the loss of your loved one, and suddenly don’t know what your purpose is.
- You feel some loss of trust in a lot of people and situations, and are fearful about that.
- You don’t feel quite as miserable as you did in the past, but are stunned when your grief roars up out of the blue and smacks you in the heart. You would like some ideas and tools on how to handle that.
- You have some exciting goals and plans running around in your head, but with nobody to bounce them off who understands your fears about moving forward on your own, you are getting nowhere with these.
- You don’t yet have any new goals or plans, and sometimes you worry you never will.
- You are hoping to one day find a new special someone, but you feel weird or guilty thinking and saying this.
- You don’t really want to find a new relationship, but friends and family are pushing you to move on, and it upsets you.
And...
Do Any Of The Following Fit Your Description?
Maybe you already belong to a local, or on line support group. You like it, but you don’t feel you can get the personal attention you need to push forward and make the progress you long for with finding your new normal.
Those groups seem too big, or too full of people repeating the same things over and over. You will never forget your loved one. Yet you are tired of always seeing primarily sentimental memes and memorial posts in most of these groups. They just make you more sad. You are also tired of constant negativity.
Maybe you have already been to counseling. Maybe after all the talking, you felt just as bad as ever, or just a tad better after unburdening yourself during your sessions. Then you were right back where you started, with no clue about how to help yourself.
Perhaps you would very much like to hire your own life coach. You know that would be a wonderful investment in yourself and in your future, but right now it’s beyond your financial capability to pay for private 1-1 coaching help. You need a more affordable resource.
(For those already in my community, I
l also offer substantial discounts on 1 to 1 coaching when I have room in my schedule.)
Then again, you may be considering making an investment in yourself and in your future by hiring the right coach (like Iris) to work intensively with you, but you prefer to first try a lower-cost option to see how it works.
Let’s Go Beyond What You’ve Already Tried
I sometimes challenge members to take new actions or to try on new ideas. It’s hard, though, to create the right kind of accountability and to help people actually accomplish much change in a group with a lot of members.
(Check out my Facebook group and Vision Powered Coaching page. I am a coach for the Wisdo Community App too.)
The Widows Empowerment Coaching Club will go beyond what we can do in our on line forum, and in most other groups that are as large, or much larger than my free group. We just can’t really address individual needs and goals too well in that kind of setting.
In my program, The Widows Empowerment Coaching Club,
we won’t be talking too much about the “stages of grief ", or letting you feel too sorry for yourself, though we will certainly listen to your needs and feelings.
We will get to know you and each other, and be a community of help and support. We will experiment with a variety of things as your needs become known and as you share the things you like.
It will be a given that every one of us in the club (including Coach Iris) has been through, or is going through a lot of pain and suffering, but that every member wants to find new joy, peace and purpose.
It will be a given for all members that your loss and your grief will now be a permanent part of you. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn how to create a life that feels good, and that is still fulfilling in ways that matter to you.
Shouldn’t you live your life how you want, rather than how other people think you should?
I would like to offer a group specifically for widows under 50 with kids still at home. If there is enough interest, I will create such a program in the future, perhaps with a similar structure to this one or maybe a time limited 6-8 week running program once a week.
For now, widows of all ages are welcome to join the Widows Empowerment Coaching Club, as long as they are ready to participate and to do the work to feel better, as they work on whatever goals they may have or want to create.
The age diversity has worked very well in our group and helped us to have different perspectives as we support and help our members.
Is This Right For Me?
My monthly coaching club is likely to be right for you if, every time you think you may have made some progress, something triggers you and feel you are right back where you started. We will help.
You may need more help, support and coaching to keep you on track and in the direction you would like to go. You might need to be gently stretched, or powerfully challenged.
Some people will tell you that “time is the great healer”. Certainly, in most cases the intensity of your pain will lessen some. In some cases it won’t.
The passage of time will not work magic on its own, if you are not also willing to work at making changes. Some people can do it by themselves, but others cannot, no matter how hard they try.
Widows often find that their entire worlds feel shaky and different, even if they have previously been very independent. They may hate the word “widow”, but it is their new reality. They may find themselves on a scary search for their hidden or true selves.
A lot of my women coaching clients (not just widows) tell me they feel they have lost themselves. This is especially true for mature women who have been through a very tough and earth-shaking change or trauma, such as the loss of a spouse.
That doesn’t mean they were subservient or dependent. They may have been extremely independent and self-assured. Yet after losing a spouse, they suddenly feel as if they have lost their equilibrium and don’t quite know who they are anymore.
Be Honest! Is That You? Are You Suddenly Unsure of Who You Are Now?
Some women may have gone straight from defining themselves as daughters of their parents, to the roles of wife, and mother (if that applies to you) and suddenly find themselves with the label of widow.
Maybe you want help finding that girl or woman buried deeply in your past, or the one you haven’t yet discovered. Perhaps you have some hopes, dreams and goals that somehow got lost in the years of living, taking care of others all the time, or maybe struggling just to survive.
Widowhood is scary and confusing for most. In addition to the grief associated with your loss, there are often feelings of anxiety, fear, hopelessness, and even of anger, guilt or failure. These things may not all be based in rational thinking, but on emotion. How you feel plays an important part in how you act, and how you do, or don’t bounce back.
If you are still raising kids, navigating widowhood and parenting is complex and sometimes scary and feels very much alone.
If you are an older widow who maybe doesn't have a family, then those feelings of aloneness are intensified and it helps to know some others in the same boat and to share and come up with ideas together with others in the same boat.
Our younger women can infuse some energy and even fun ideas and inspiration into the lives of our older widows.
Our older widows can offer wisdom and experience while they also get help and support and coaching.
It is never too late to feel better and to work on self-improvement and self-care.
Who Is Coach Iris?
Iris Arenson-Fuller, PCC, Certified Professional Coach is a specialist in helping people through and beyond tough life changes, including loss and grief. She is known to many as the Stop Suffering Sorceress and the Coach With the Practical Heart and has also been dubbed Mother of Encouragement.
Iris loves facilitating people's ability to re-imagine and reinvent their lives according to their own true desires and goals. She also is an expert in adoption loss issues and in working with all members of the adoption community. She has had decades of experience working with individuals, couples and families. She co-founded and ran a non-profit agency and is also a poet/writer.
Iris has had a professional coaching practice since 2009, when she completed her coaching training. She has continued to enrich her personal and professional life with ongoing additional training, which she enjoys a great deal. She is a credentialed Professional Certified Coach (PCC) by the International Coach Federation. She is a Life Coach, Published Writer and Poet, Mom, Grandma and Scottish Terrier Lover.
Iris has lost many loved ones and close friends. She was left a widow with young kids when she was only 35. She derives particular satisfaction from helping widows of all ages and stages and others who have lost loved ones, or have lived through difficult or disappointing life experiences.
Contact Iris: info@visionpoweredcoaching.com
What Some Clients Have Said About Iris:
“Working with Iris has helped me more than any other professional I’ve spent time with. She heard my issues, asked penetrating questions so we were both on the same page, and was then able to give me new and very clear insights. In each session we have been able to make breakthroughs, or I learned ways to handle stressful situations. I feel so much more in control of my life now, so much more confident. I have made great strides in getting rid of my people-pleasing habits, and feel so much more creative and alive. I highly recommend Iris. ...I'm working on some projects I haven't been able to pick up in years. I'm energized in so many ways. My giving myself time to grieve and then getting on to something interesting is helping greatly. The holiday season is a difficult time, but I know I can manage it now. ~Margaret W.
*****
“I don’t think I can ever adequately thank you, Iris, for helping keep the darkness at bay. I’m in a decent place now. I feel stronger. And, I’m choosing to live life on purpose and apologetically. Navigating my family and their feelings is still a challenge, but I know I can only be responsible for myself. So I’ve let go of trying to please everybody. Also, I put myself out there and I met someone. We have been dating for a while. I was only looking for some companionship, someone to do things with. He feels like home, though. And, I’m feeling happy more often. I just really wanted to let you know you’ve truly helped my journey and I’m so appreciative." ~ Angelique H.
*****
“Iris put a lot of effort into getting to know me. She is generous with her time and talents. Iris listened carefully and shared tools and ideas tailored to my specific needs, that we built on together. I knew within the first two sessions that I was on the right track and with the right life coach. Iris breathes life back into flagging hopes and dreams. I feel courageous again for the first time in a long while." ~ Ginny A.-W.
*****
"I began working with Iris privately when I was struggling through new widowhood and feeling life would never be OK for me again. I worked with Iris for some time. She helped me with my grief, and with the insecurities I felt as a widow. She helped me look at why I made the choices I often made . Iris helped me recognize my inner strengths and built my confidence in my own abilities. She pushed me to use my talents and creativity. As my circumstances and goals changed over time, Iris assisted me in shifting gears and focusing on my new challenges. I would suggest your contacting and hiring her as soon as possible."~ Diane R.
*****
"Coach Iris knows how to move you from grieving and feeling lost to seeing fresh, new, exciting possibilities to love and live again."~ Charmaine S.
*****
I invite you to read more testimonials and lots of other info on my web site, Vision Powered Coaching.
What’s Included In Your
Widows Empowerment Coaching Club
Membership:
- A once a month 90 minute Zoom Session Internet-based. (Zoom call with microphone and camera ) . There will be some live coaching for prearranged volunteers, or sometimes spontaneous volunteers. Topics for volunteers will be chosen based on need, relevance and interest to the rest of the group. Sometimes there will be presentations or even guest speakers.
- If we are doing a special exercise, an Accountability Partner may be chosen for you from the group, by Iris if the group is big enough for this, so you can have some peer feedback and support in-between sessions, and if you wish, can work on some things together.
- Always Confidential Group Discussions, Presentations by Iris, Group Games and Exercises, Visualizations, Relaxation Tools, Special Challenges and more!
- Access to recording links so you may review the call and get double the value, or so you may listen if you happened to have missed a session. (These recordings are only for our group and will not/may not be shared with anyone outside of our group.)
- **Bonus-A private call with Coach Iris to make each other's acquaintance, and to discuss your situation and goals.-Value- At least $100-$200
- Bonus~V.I. P. access to a Secret Facebook Group, where members can post their progress, questions, roadblocks, accomplishments and results of the challenges they have chosen to work on. (This will not be just like other regular FB support groups to which you may already belong.)
- Bonus GIFT~ An inspirational e-book of memes created for this group as a gift and thank you for joining.
- **Bonus~ Special permission for email access to privately email or pm Iris occasionally, with a special question or situation that you would like some brief email coaching about. Normally only elite private, coaching clients get to email Iris like this, with questions or issues. This will not be a multiple mail conversation, but will tackle a specific issue, question, project or problem.
- Bonus~ Periodic links or posting of articles by Iris and other material/articles of special interest to the group.
- **Bonus~ When a paid member refers a widowed friend or family member to The Widows Empowerment Club, If the person referred signs up for the minimum of three months, and gives your name, you can earn some modest cash after their first three months of paid membership. There is no limit to how many women you may refer, in order to receive this bonus. This would take effect once you were a full paying member yourself.
****Special Bonus : Iris will hold some fun contests from time to time. The member who refers the most people who sign up for the group, or for one-to-one coaching with Iris, will be eligible win some free coaching, or other prizes!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How will I be charged for my membership?
There is a recurring payment set up with Paypal each month. It's easy and safe. You don't need a PayPal account.
What if I don't want to continue my membership?
Since this type of group involves ongoing commitment and work, I ask that you give it a try of at least 3-4 months minimum. If you don't wish to continue after that, notify me by email and I will discontinue your recurring payments, or will instruct you how to do it. It is easy to unsubscribe. This will take effect the following month after you notify me that you are withdrawing. I am unable to refund membership fees paid for a previous time period.
Zoom sessions, are accessed through a web link. You should download the Zoom app. If you don't have a camera or a phone to access our sessions, you can call in, but it is much better to be able to see and get to know each other.
Important Final Reminder:
If you are already a member of my community, a member of one of my groups or a current or past client, the discounted special price of $27 per month is yours and will be yours as long as you wish to be a member of this club. Join in Feb. or March, pay the community fee, even you are new to the community.
Remember that space will be limited as too many are not accepted at one time, so the members can get acquainted.
Please do share this page with others via email or through social media, even if you think you don't know any widowed women, or any who might want to join this group. Please also ask your own contacts to share this. That's the best way to reach and help the most people. I truly believe in the quotation, "We rise by lifting others". ~Robert Ingersoll. Thank you so much.
Results
Of course, the results you get from any undertaking depend mostly on what you put into it and how committed you are.
Coaching does not try to impose attitudes, or expectation of certain behaviors. The results and outcomes are based on what YOU, the client want to achieve. The goals of group members, other than figuring out how to feel better and go on with life, may not be identical. The RESULTS are really up to you.
Some people only get ready to make changes when they have hit rock-bottom and their pain is so great that they can’t stand it any longer.
I hope that isn’t you, but even if it is, there is hope.
How Will You Grow?
Have you ever known someone who has lost a spouse and who never seemed to have moved beyond the land of terrible suffering? If you have, and you have decided that is not going to be you for the rest of your life, this group, the Widows Empowerment Coaching Club is a good fit for you.
Does this mean your grief will be completely gone? No, your life has been forever changed. We know that. Grief is ongoing, though it changes in nature and sometimes in severity, but misery and suffering don’t have to be forever.
I know you have already experienced some enormous changes since the loss of your spouse. Some of them have been overwhelming. Maybe you just can't take the constant pain anymore. Maybe it's time to commit to life again, and to find ways to enjoy it.
Don't delay! If too many request membership all at once, I may need to place you on a wait list and will inform you. Membership is now open.
