Jamie Mountain
Former NHL star Theoren Fleury was in Rainy River District on Thursday to host a workshop entitled “Reflections on Healing and Trauma, a One-Day Conversation with Theo Fleury” held at the Couchiching multi-use facility.
Fleury perhaps is best-known for his time on the ice. But away from the rink, his life once carried the markings of a troubled childhood, abuse, and coping with emotional pain through addictive and self-destructive behaviours.
Today, he is a healthy, motivational, and successful agent of change.
Fleury is committed to daily transformation through personal growth, mindfulness, and new action, and his compassionate spirit allows others to feel safe and whole by experiencing his vulnerability.
He has been awarded the Canadian Humanitarian Award and the Queen’s Jubilee Medallion, and is a Siksika Nation Honourary Chief and recipient of the Aboriginal Indspire Award.
He also holds two honourary doctorates–one in science from the University of Guelph-Humber for outstanding contributions to the mental health of Canadians, and another in laws from Brandon University for his work in combating child abuse while promoting healing and recovery.
Fleury is skillfully adept at inviting audience self-reflection during his many speaking events by creating safe environments for guests to share their own “Me Too” experiences.
Without controversy or blame, he focuses on helping and leading others down a path of healing.
Fleury also embraces continual self-reinvention, and teaches workshop participants that impactful leadership requires the willingness to welcome change into their everyday environments.
Helping other people in need also is a powerful leadership skill many group settings can benefit from.
By introducing the concept of “real conversations” to participants, Fleury imparts the tools needed to first recognize signs of trauma in others and then to conduct productive conversations with survivors that can help them along their path toward healing.
“In the morning and in the afternoon, I try to bring everybody into the conversation and it was pretty cool today,” Fleury enthused.
“There were a lot of people who shared and there was a lot of similarities, and it was a very productive day.”
Fleury feels as though the experience of trauma is a societal issue, so he aims to go wherever he is needed to help out.
“To talk about this stuff in incredibly important,” he stressed.
“I think there’s only a handful of guys in North America who speak openly about their sexual abuse history, so what’s really cool is doing these workshops and you get instant feedback from people,” Fleury noted.
“For me, that’s the inspiration for myself and why I continue
