Introduction

Welcome back! Last time we were together we talked about work life balance, communicating boundaries and checking in with our capacity. In this module, we are going to talk about self-advocacy and professional development.

We’ll talk through how to identify when you need to advocate for yourselves, practice developing and mapping out self-advocacy skills, and find the connection between self-advocacy and professional development. Both self-advocacy and professional development are rewarding, and they both start with learning how to identify your needs.  

Objectives

• Recognize how to identify when you need to advocate for yourself
• Practice developing effective self-advocacy skills 
• Determine how to evaluate and seek out areas for professional development​​​

Opening Discussion:

In order to start thinking about self-advocacy, take a few moments to think about the following questions. Once you've gathered your thoughts, please share your thoughts on one of these two prompts if you feel comfortable.

1. Think about a time when you had to speak up for yourself. Where were you? How did that moment turn out? ​
2. Do you feel confident speaking up for yourself in situations? When do you feel most confident?