Healing conference in Dayton to focus on prioritizing mental health for women

Deadline to register is Oct. 10.
KeAnna Daniels, co-founder of Tears, Tides, and Transformation. CONTRIBUTED

KeAnna Daniels, co-founder of Tears, Tides, and Transformation. CONTRIBUTED

An inaugural conference on women’s healing will be held on Saturday, Oct. 14, in Dayton, promoting growth and empowerment and encouraging women to prioritize their mental health.

Co-hosts KeAnna Daniels and Bridget Flaherty are bringing the vulnerability and healing community they’ve found through their podcast to an all-day event at the Dayton Woman’s Club, 225 North Ludlow Street.

The Tears, Tides, and Transformation Women’s Healing Conference, which shares the same name as their podcast, will be highlighting local healers, which they said can include massage therapists, cognitive therapists, Tarot readers, people who help others who are in recovery from a substance use disorder, and more.

“We have been doing this work in the healing space for women since 2021 when we started our podcast, and so just to get to this place of being able to launch our first healing conference for women is really the manifestation of our strategic vision,” Daniels said. “We’re just excited to continue creating this safe space for women to have courageous conversations in community with other women who are looking to do healing work to understand what it’s all about to normalize this conversation of mental wellness and self-care.”

They want to make prioritizing mental health a normal practice of day-to-day life, Daniels said, just like going to work or brushing your teeth.

Daniels’ and Flaherty’s podcast grew out of the deep conversations they were having already as friends when they decided they wanted to share those conversations with more people and connect with more people who are healing from their own traumas.

“In 2020 when everyone was really craving interaction with other people, but also so many people were finding the need for self-care practices, we were having one of our very long phone conversations,” Flaherty said. “Like an hour and a half in, KeAnna said, ‘You know, we should share some of these conversations with people.’”

The two women hired a producer and later released their podcast in 2021, which has gone on to have three seasons.

Bridget Flaherty, co-founder of Tears, Tides, and Transformation. CONTRIBUTED

icon to expand image

“We decided to highlight women who had experienced trauma in their lives and talk about what healing looked like for them,” Flaherty said. “We had a woman on the podcast whose husband had committed suicide, and we talked about the aftermath of that and what healing looked like for her. She now has started her own organization where she has these vulnerable conversations, and it’s really about suicide awareness.”

Daniels and Flaherty also interviewed a woman who survived brain cancer and another women who survived childhood sexual abuse, with the latter also discussing how that abuse impacted her adult relationships.

“We had a lot of women saying, ‘What we really need is community,’” Flaherty said.

Speakers at the conference include not only Daniels and Flaherty, but also Darsheel Kaur, a cultural educator and wellness practitioner; Heather Renae Horton, a licensed professional counselor, professional astrologer and group facilitator; Harretta Tucker, a registered nurse, holistic health practitioner and Reiki Master; and more, including artists and spiritual teachers.

This conference will also feature 29 local women-owned businesses, 20 of which are also Black-owned businesses, Flaherty said.

Sponsors for the conference also include the Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services of Montgomery County, Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association, Montgomery County Office of Strategic Initiatives, and the Poetic Justice Foundation.


HOW TO GO

The cost of attending the conference is $99, but they currently are offering a special of buy one ticket, bring a friend for free. The deadline to register is Tuesday, Oct. 10. Register online at tearstidesandtransformation.com.

About the Author