D2C Story Groups
Join us for our 10-week D2C Story Group starting either January 30th or 31st, 2024!
Designed2Connect is offering a 10-week online small group experience that will help you explore how your family of origin impacts the way you connect with others today. We will look at such things as attachment styles, rupture and repair, styles of relating, and much more. The curriculum we use in these D2C Story Groups will take you on a journey of discovery of past events, from family vacations and dinner table dynamics to feelings of invalidation and times you felt betrayed. You will share your stories in a safe environment and discover more about yourself, how to engage others in deeper ways and discover God's hand in your life.
We will meet weekly starting Tuesday morning January 30th from 9:30am-11:30am or Wednesday evening starting January 31st from 7:00pm-9:00pm. For more information contact Margaret Whisler at Margaret@Designed2Connect.org.
Facilitator: Margaret Whisler
Suggested Donation: $200.00
You will find practical, easy-to-follow exercises to help you explore and embrace the stories of your life. They will equip you to:
Recall past experiences and find the meaning God has written there.
Understand how individual events fit into the bigger themes of your life.
Learn how to actively listen to others and formulate thoughtful engaging questions.
Identify passions that drive you, and see how God uses them to guide you into the future.
Tell your story in a way that brings glory to God and reveals God to others.
Share your story in a safe environment that helps explore deeper layers of your story.
Learn how to read and study your story, and then start telling it to others. God invites you to coauthor the rest of your life’s story—a story that opens up your future and glorifies God.
Past Events
Annual Auction
October 12th, 2023
You're invited to join us at the Country Club of Fairfax on Thursday October 12th for our 3rd Annual Auction! There will be entertainment, a silent auction, light hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar, and a good time with friends. All of the proceeds from the auction go towards subsidizing counseling in the greater DC/Northern Virginia area.
Attire: Business casual/no jeans per Country Club dress code.
To Be Told
Join us for our 10-week Dan Allender group starting September 26th and 27th, 2023!
Join us for our next 10 week To Be Told small group experience that will help you explore how your family of origin impacts the way you connect with others today. We will look at such things as attachment styles, rupture and repair, styles of relating, and much more. The curriculum we use in To Be Told groups will take you on a journey of discovery of past events, from family vacations and dinner table dynamics to feelings of invalidation and times you felt betrayed. You will share your stories in a safe environment and discover more about yourself, how to engage others in deeper ways and discover God's hand in your life.
We will meet weekly starting Tuesday morning September 26th from 9:30am-11:30am EST or Wednesday evening starting September 27th from 7:00pm-9:00pm EST.
Facilitator: Margaret Whisler
Suggested Donation: $200.00
You will find practical, easy-to-follow exercises to help you explore and embrace the stories of your life. They will equip you to:
Recall past experiences and find the meaning God has written there.
Understand how individual events fit into the bigger themes of your life.
Learn how to actively listen to others and formulate thoughtful engaging questions.
Identify passions that drive you, and see how God uses them to guide you into the future.
Tell your story in a way that brings glory to God and reveals God to others.
Share your story in a safe environment that helps explore deeper layers of your story.
Learn how to read and study your story, and then start telling it to others. God invites you to coauthor the rest of your life’s story—a story that opens up your future and glorifies God.
A Mindful May
May 2023
As an organization, we are dedicated to bringing awareness to mental wellness this month. Designed2Connect longs to bring people closer to one another, closer to the Lord, and even closer to understanding themselves. Our prayer is that everyone would “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). He longs to meet us in our struggles, connect with us, and lead us to healing and freedom through connection with others.
Follow along with us on Instagram or Facebook to keep up with our campaign, and consider becoming a monthly donor to take part in subsidizing the cost of counseling for individuals in need. Follow the button below for more details.
Supportive Parenting Seminar
February 4, 2023
Parenting: one of life's greatest gifts and greatest challenges.
Gain tools to grow more confident in your roles as a parent, build a stronger connection to your child(ren), and learn about the brain science that shapes your relationship with them.
Guest Speakers: Christine Katcher and Phyllis Thompson
To Be Told
Join us for our 10-week Dan Allender group starting January 24th, 2023!
To Be Told will be a time to explore how the stories of your life and family of origin impact the way you connect with others. Each week you will have time to share in a safe environment and discover God’s hand in your life. A small group of attendees will meet for 2 hours to discuss questions from Dan Allender’s “To Be Told” book and workbook. Please join us in discovering how the stories of your life impact the way you connect with others.
The sessions will take place: Tuesdays, 9:30-11:30am EST via Zoom.
Facilitator: Margaret Whisler
Suggested Donation: $200.00
You will find practical, easy-to-follow exercises to help you explore and embrace the stories of your life. They will equip you to:
Recall past experiences and find the meaning God has written there.
Understand how individual events fit into the bigger themes of your life.
Learn how to actively listen to others and formulate thoughtful engaging questions.
Identify passions that drive you, and see how God uses them to guide you into the future.
Tell your story in a way that brings glory to God and reveals God to others.
Share your story in a safe environment that helps explore deeper layers of your story.
Learn how to read and study your story, and then start telling it to others. God invites you to coauthor the rest of your life’s story—a story that opens up your future and glorifies God.
Giving Tuesday
November 29th, 2022
Thank you to all our 2022 donors!
To Be Told
Join us for our 10-week Dan Allender group starting September 13th & 14th!
To Be Told will be a time to explore how the stories of your life and family of origin impact the way you connect with others. Each week you will have time to share in a safe environment and discover God’s hand in your life. A small group of attendees will meet for 2 hours to discuss questions from Dan Allender’s “To Be Told” book and workbook. Please join us in discovering how the stories of your life impact the way you connect with others.
There will be two separate sessions: Tuesdays, 9:30-11:30am EST and Wednesdays, 7:00-9:00pm EST.
Facilitator: Margaret Whisler
Suggested Donation: $200.00
You will find practical, easy-to-follow exercises to help you explore and embrace the stories of your life. They will equip you to:
Recall past experiences and find the meaning God has written there.
Understand how individual events fit into the bigger themes of your life.
Learn how to actively listen to others and formulate thoughtful engaging questions.
Identify passions that drive you, and see how God uses them to guide you into the future.
Tell your story in a way that brings glory to God and reveals God to others.
Share your story in a safe environment that helps explore deeper layers of your story.
Learn how to read and study your story, and then start telling it to others. God invites you to coauthor the rest of your life’s story—a story that opens up your future and glorifies God.
Celebrate & Support
CONCERT + SILENT AUCTION
MAY 12TH 2022 | 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
Jammin Java: 227 Maple Avenue E, Vienna, VA 22180
Save the date for the second annual Designed2Connect Concert and Silent Auction! We hope you can join us for some food and fun to help raise money to subsidize counseling in the greater DC/Northern Virginia area.
We will hear Zack Whisler and his band, listen to a few testimonies from several people positively impacted by Designed2Connect, and bid on some great auction items such as:
Day of Golf at Country Club of Fairfax
Week at Hilton Head Condo
Photography by Abigail Grey Johnston
Case of select premium wines - given by Virginia Imports
Capitals Game Tickets
2 Beautiful Watercolor Paintings
Hope to see you there!
Giving Tuesday
November 30th, 2021
Attachment Styles Seminar with Kelsey Myers
Join us on October 2nd to learn about your style of attachment and how it impacts the way you connect with others and God.
Kelsey is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She says, “We are all born with a longing and a need to connect. As vulnerable newborns, our very survival depends upon our ability to hold the attention and attunement of our caregivers. Many of us would like to think that once we grow into adulthood we all but resolve that vulnerability and need for others; however, our nervous system tells a very different story.” Join us in exploring the way our body, brain, and spirit were expertly designed to attach. Learn what it means to examine your history and your very viscera for the pathway to more intimate and authentic connections to yourself, others, and your Creator.
What: Attachment Styles and How They Impact Your Connections with Kelsey Myers from Curt Thompson and Associates
When: Saturday, October 2nd 9:00am - 12:30pm
Where: 8200 Bell Ln, Vienna, VA 22182 (New Song Church/Lorien Wood School). This seminar will also be available live via YouTube. *Masks will be required inside
Suggested Donation: $30 per person, $50 per couple.
For more information email Margaret@Designed2Connect.org
Heart Cry of Every Child & Teen
Parents care deeply about the hearts of their children, yet this frenzied world makes it difficult to stay tuned in and connected. In this seminar, parents, educators, or caregivers will gain a deeper understanding of why connecting with our kids’ hearts matters so much. Parents will be invited to let go of guilt and replace it with both a posture of curiosity and compassion. We'll discuss a handful of practical strategies to help deepen connection and support our children's emotional, spiritual, and psychological wellbeing.
Facilitator: Jackie E. Perry, PhD, LCMHCS, ACS, NCC
Suggested donation: $25.00
We will meet via Zoom on March 20th from 9:30 - 11:00am.
Heart Cry Seminar Outline:
The heart must remain central
The importance of attachment and attunement
Basic building blocks of healthy connection/attachment
The core desires of the heart
Responding to desires and dysregulation (anxiety, anger, fear) in the age of COVID
Fostering repair when ruptures occur between you and your child
Q&A Session