Meet your Guides
Matthew Grant
Psy.D., HSPP Clinical Psychologist Living Out Your Gay Gifts Gay men possess 14 distinct gifts that enable them to play critical roles and make important contributions to society. Which of these gifts do you possess, and how can you harness them for greater well-being, authenticity, and personal power? What can change when you recognize how your loved ones, co-workers, and community members benefit from—in fact, need—the gifts you bring to them as a gay man? We’ll explore these questions and more in this fun, interactive, and positive workshop. You’ll leave with a greater appreciation of yourself as a gay man. Required Reading: Gay Men and The New Way Forward by Raymond Rigoglioso
Loren A. Olson, MD
Board-certified Psychiatrist Author, Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight. Dr. Olson realized at 40 years old that he was gay, after denying it to himself and others for decades. Through this workshop, Dr. Olson will focus on the challenges of coming out as a gay man in mid-life, including insights gained from interviews with dozens of other men and reflections on his own experience. He will also lead a discussion of men's sexuality across the life span, why older men are sexier than young men, cybersex, and sex as pleasure versus performance. Dr. Olson is a gold medal winner of the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Benjamin Franklin Award, with his book, Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight. The Book, Finally Out, will be complimentary provided at the conference as part of your welcome bag!
Steven Reeder
Certified Life Coach, Grief Recovery Specialist, and Energy Leadership Practitioner An estimated 80% of our stress comes from calamities of our own making. The other 20% comes from the normal function of life that happens to everyone: change, loss, grief, and aging. Yet all of it can be addressed when we understand how to approach it from a place of choice and power. In this workshop, we'll take a deep look at three levels of stress (including some you might not know you have), and how each level uniquely affects gay men. We'll also discuss habits many of us picked up along the way that might be prolonging our suffering. We'll then introduce and practice tangible tools and skills that you can apply to not just cope with stress, but release it before it starts.
Maurice W. Dorsey, Ph.D.
Author, From Whence We Come, Businessman First & Of Time and Spirit Maurice will discuss how he overcame emotional insecurities around the issues of homosexuality, being: Catholic, Colored, then Negro, then Black, then Afro American, and now African American in America while living in a dysfunctional family.
Christopher MacLellan
Affectionately known as “The Bow Tie Guy”™. Founder of Aging Gayfully & The Whole Care Network Have You been a Caregiver for a Loved one? Are you concerned that you may need a caregiver in the future? If so, this workshop is for you. There has been two ASA LGBT Aging Issues Network and the Metlife Mature Market Institute studies on LGBT aging. The results of this national survey of LGBT persons found LGBT had a slightly higher incidence of caregiving (for family members, partners and friends) and had more men serving as caregivers when compared to the previous caregiving studies of the general population. Also, in particular, those not married or partnered worried about whether there would be a caregiver available should they need care in the future. Also, LGBT baby boomers were more likely than the comparison group to serve as a caregiver to family and friends and provided more hours of care. The story of Chris MacLellan and his partner, Richard Schiffer was chronicled in a 2015 Pulitzer Prize-nominated story “In Sickness and In Health: A Couple’s Final Journey” about their journey of caregiving. The story told of the challenges that LGBT partners have in dealing with the medical and legal system, but it also told of the love and joy that Richard’s last years had on their relationship.
William Smith
Founder & Publisher of Gay Life After 40.com Most gay men over 40 can count less than 5 close friends in their lives. My mission is to give you the tools to create, attract and keep the relationship that you desire or create new friends for you so you have a social life again. No matter how bright you are, no matter how old you are, no matter how much you know yourself, you still have blind spots. We all do. Being Gay and over 40 can be tough to meet others because you may have forgot how to meet other guys besides the internet. Most dating sites do not work. All you may get are guys that are just surfing and never want to meet or men that just want a hook up. Moreover, you may get that occasional scammer ready to open your wallet at a moment’s notice. I will show you the signs and clues of what to look for in a scammer.
Life Coach Peter Julius
Certified in Rapid Transformational Therapy Peter will be discussing the topic of Loneliness What is Loneliness? What causes it & ways to overcome it.