Moving to Higher Ground 2023

by Bob Spensley and Kim Barthel

Moving to Higher Ground was held at Zephyr Lodge on Liberty Lake, WA in August, 2023. It was the first MTHG since COVID and was a welcome connection / reconnection between dedicated professionals of many backgrounds aiming to expand both professionally and personally. Coming from across North America, we spent 4 very full days and evenings in a comfy lakeside setting with learning and sharing throughout. An intimate 16 participants attended (OTs, PTs and SLPs), teaming up with neuro-diverse kids according to the participants’ learning goals. Parents/caregivers were directly involved, and countless “miracle moments” were felt and internalized. Interspersed throughout were Kim’s lectures on a range of relevant topics and facilitated debriefs, merging theory and practice every step of the way.

Big thank you to our local hosts Christi Shelley, Lynley Cazier and Rachel Patton for hosting, to Kim Cox and Lista Spensley-Tagornak for volunteering, and to Danny, Scottie and Goose (the dog) for being with us.

As background, Moving to Higher Ground has been happening in different settings, cultures and contexts with a range of key local partners for about 20 years, as a combination/evolution of Kim’s experiences with Camp Avanti with Patti Oetter, OTR and Eileen Richter, OTR, Journey Workshops with Regi Boehme, OTR and Kim’s own personal growth workshops. Kim would always say that MTHG is her most full-on exhausting and most meaningful workshop of the year. Specifically, it both requires and brings energy because it directly involves kids and parents, it truly emphasizes multi-disciplinary best-practices and open-minded/hearted collaboration and is intentional about creating a relatively safe and inspiring space and time for personal reflection and growth. The biggest take-aways are always the deep connections made with dedicated professionals, and towards expanding this circle, we’re already looking forward to MTHG’s next iteration in Malaysia this December. And, potentially, we’re looking into returning to the beautiful natural setting of Zephyr Lodge again in late June of 2024. Stay tuned.