Workshops
at the Lower Hutt Women’s Centre
We run weekend workshops which sometimes include a Friday night or a Wednesday night. Participants are required to attend all the sessions of the workshop – and the workshops are based around group work, discussion and activities. Enrolment is necessary for weekend workshops and enrolment is confirmed on payment of the fee. (Weekend workshops not running at present.) We also run two weekly Self Esteem workshops which are 2 hour workshops on Friday morning and Tuesday evening. Enrolment isn’t necessary but turning up on time is. We welcome all women that want to learn about themselves, process issues, grow and develop to enhance you and your families experience of life. Women that are new to group work are welcome to attend.


Friday 9:45 am – 12:00 pm
Tuesday 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Self Esteem for Women
Facilitator: Stephanie Brockman (Friday) Diana Rickman (Tuesday)
Course Duration: Every Tuesday evening 6:30pm – 8:30pm and Friday morning 9:45am – 12pm
Cost: $5 (Tuesday) $2 (Friday)
Our self-esteem develops and evolves throughout our lives as we build an image of ourselves through our experiences with different people and activities.
Experiences during our childhood play a particularly large role in the shaping of our basic self-esteem. When we were growing up, our successes (and failures) and how we were treated by the members of our immediate family, by our teachers, sports coaches, religious authorities, and by our peers, all contributed to the creation of our basic self-esteem. The course is designed to give women the opportunity to develop awareness of how they live in the world, the influences on them and how they have the ability and power to make changes in their lives.
Women will be given the opportunity to:
- Develop skills to recognise the strengths in themselves
- Look at the areas of self responsibility and self reflection
- Be encouraged to develop awareness around how beliefs about self develop and grow
- Build their emotional connection with themselves and develop a greater awareness of their own feelings and emotions
- Feel a sense of personal power and belonging
- Celebrate positive aspects of being a woman
Creche is available for Friday morning self esteem classes please come in by 9:40am to settle your child in before the course starts at 10am.
If you arrive for the workshop after it has started at 10am you can’t join the group.
Thank you for this consideration.
Dates and Topics 2022
Fridays AM 2022 | Tuesdays PM 2022 |
6 May Coming to grips with Feelings | 26 April Willpower |
13 May Talking about Ourselves | 3 May Anger as a Strength |
20 May Beliefs About Self | 10 May Developing Self Knowledge |
27 May Expressing Pride in Self | 17 May Self Love |
3 June Letting go of the Past | 24 May Acknowledging Self |
10 June Respecting Self and Others | 31 May Enhancing self in terms of Awareness |
17 June Striving for Pure Motives | 7 June Acceptance and Use of Strengths |
1 July Putting yourself in Neutral | 14 June Positive Thought and Talk |
8 July The courage to be imperfect | 21 June Messages about Self |
15 July Developing Courage | 28 June Accepting Responsibility for Self |
22 July Willpower | 5 July Coming to Grips with Feelings |
29 July Anger as a Strength | 12 July Talking about Ourselves |
5 Aug Developing Self Knowledge | 19 July Beliefs about Self |
12 Aug Self Love | 26 July Expressing Pride in Self |
19 Aug Acknowledging Self | 2 Aug Letting go of the Past |
26 Aug Enhancing Self in Terms of Awareness | 9 Aug Respecting Self and Others |
2 Sept Acceptance and Use of Strengths | 16 Aug Striving for Pure Motives |
9 Sept Positive thought and talk | 23 Aug Putting Yourself in Neutral |
16 Sept Messages about Self | 30 Aug Having the Courage to be Imperfect |
23 Sept Accepting responsibility for self | 6 Sept Developing Courage |
30 Sept Coming to grips with feelings | 13 Sept Willpower |
7 Oct Talking about ourselves | 20 Sept Anger as a Strength |
14 Oct Beliefs about Self | 27 Sept Developing Self Knowledge |
21 Oct Expressing Pride in Self | 4 Oct Self Love |
28 Oct Letting go of the Past | 11 Oct Acknowledging Self |
4 Nov Respecting self and Others | 18 Oct Enhancing self in terms of awareness |
11 Nov Striving for Pure Motives | 25 Oct Acceptance and Use of Strengths |

Date TBC
Saturdays 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Shared lunch
Self Defence for Women
Facilitator: Naomi Millane
Date: TBC
Cost: $15 for both workshops
Minimum: 10 participants
This is a strength and empowerment based workshop to learn how to defend yourself with physical and mental skills.
It includes a mix of action, discussion and practice. It is suitable for women of all abilities.
Please be available for both workshops as the workshops build on each other.
Facilitator: Naomi Millane is an experienced self defence teacher and a Mum. She has a passion for wokring with women and girls and in her spare time loves to play music and paint.

DATE TBC
Self Development for Women Using Action Methods – Not currently running
Facilitators:
Course Duration:
Cost: Waged $40/low or unwaged $20
This workshop uses action methods that include group work, psychodrama, art and movement. This weekend will give participants the opportunity to explore their own personal issues and will be useful for women wanting to expand and develop their experience of life and the issues that hold them back. Women new to actions methods are welcome.
Five minimum for the course to commence and 7 maximum enrolments.
Note: Participants must be prepared to attend all sessions of the workshop.

Dates TBC
Friday 7:00 – 9:30 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm,
Sunday 10.00 am – 4:30 pm
My Mother My Self
Facilitators: TBC
Course Duration: Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday.
Dates: TBC
Time: Friday 7-9.30pm and Saturday 10-5pm and Sunday 10-4.30pm
Cost: Waged $40/low or unwaged $20
This workshop will look at issues to do with our relationship to our mother; and includes looking at what stops us from living our own authentic lives, and how our relationship with our mother influences how we are today.
No relationship is quite as primal as the one between a mother and a daughter. “It’s the original relationship, and it’s also a relationship that has been sentimentalised but not honoured” Lee Sharkey.
“When I stopped seeing my mother through the eyes of a child I saw the woman who helped me give birth to myself.” Nancy Friday
Friday evening and two-day weekend course. Five minimum for course to commence and 10 maximum enrolments.
Note: Participants must be prepared to attend all sessions of the workshop.

Dates TBC
Friday 7:00 – 9:30 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm,
Sunday 10.00 am – 4:30 pm
Women Who Run With The Wolves
Facilitator: TBC
Cost: Waged $40/low or unwaged $20
Date: TBC
Time: Friday 7-9.30pm, Sat 10-5pm and Sund 10-4.30pm

Dates TBC
Friday 7:00 – 9:30 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm,
Sunday 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
Building Healthy Relationships – Co-dependency/Women Who Love Too Much
Part One Workshop
Facilitator: TBC
Date: TBC Course Duration: Weekend workshop – Friday 7-9.30pm, Saturday 10-5pm and Sunday 10-4.30pm Cost: Waged $40/low or unwaged $20
Attending Part One is a pre-requisite for attending Part Two (Therapeutic-based workshop).
Part One is a weekend workshop that will give participants the opportunity to explore their own issues around co-dependency and process addiction. It will give the opportunity to explore the origins of your behaviour and have a look at ways of changing and developing in yourself.
Women who love too much, co-dependency or relationship addiction. All names which reflect different aspects of this issue that some women have in relationships. Co-dependency can be seen as a pattern of behaviour in which you find yourself dependent on approval from someone else for your self-worth and identity. And often shown by when your sense of purpose in life wraps around making satisfying the other person’s needs and your needs and purpose become lost.
The relationships could be partners, children, parents or friends. This workshop may help you in understanding how to look at your behaviour in the relationship and where that behaviour originates.
This workshop will help women that want to look at the damaging or dysfunctional relationships they have been or are in.
Note: Participants must be prepared to attend all sessions of the workshop.
Enrol for each workshop separately.
Part Two Workshop
Facilitator: TBC
Date: TBC
Course Duration: Weekend workshop – Friday 7-9.30pm, Saturday 10-5pm and Sunday 10-4.30pm
Cost: Waged $40/low or unwaged $20
Attending Part One is a pre-requisite for attending Part Two (Therapeutic-based workshop).
You need to have attended part one at some stage to participate in this course. This weekend will be an opportunity to explore; relationships from the past, your primary relationships, and how they are acting out in your relationships today.
This provides an opportunity to examine dynamics of co-dependency (women who love too much) and relationship addiction.
If you have difficulty with relationships -partners, children, parents -then this workshop may help you in understanding how to look at your behaviour in the relationship and where that behaviour comes from. This workshop will help women that want to look at the damaging or dysfunctional relationships they have been or are in. Using the group work process and action methods we will begin the process of personal recovery.
Six minimum and 10 maximum for the course to commence.
Note: Participants must be prepared to attend all sessions of the workshop.

Date TBC
Friday 7:00 – 9:30 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm,
Sunday 10:00 am – 4:30 pm
Inner Child Workshop
Facilitator: TBC
Date: TBC
Course Duration: Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday
Cost: Waged $40/low or unwaged $20
Through the use of action and art, learn the techniques to develop a deeper understanding of yourself and your processes. It is said that the child holds the key to our own healing and recovery, and this is an individual journey for each person.
This workshop is for women that have done previous self-development workshops or groups.

Date TBC
Friday evening 7 – 9.30 pm
Saturday 10 – 5 pm
Sunday 10 – 4.30 pm
Self Care vs Burn Out
Facilitators: TBC
Cost: Waged $40/low or unwaged $20
Part of self-care is understanding that the relationship between belief systems and feelings is an essential step to stopping a self-defeating behaviour.
Burnout is a community hazard which people contract when they forget to remember themselves.
This workshop is designed to develop an ethos of caring, support and empowerment for the participants when facing present day pressures and stress. There is an opportunity to identify the differences in social stress and personal stress and how both of these impacts on daily lives, often in an unconscious way.
This workshop is skill-based where physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being will be explored, drawing on the experience of the facilitator and the participants together.
Safe, firm boundaries will be named and regained throughout the workshop.