"The Art of Kindness in Everyday Living" with Colleen Zurcher-McGauran, MA, LMHC, NCC

Nationally certified licensed mental health counselor Colleen Zurcher-McGauran will discuss “The Art of Kindness” April 20th at the Women in Leadership Speaker Series luncheon hosted by the Sanibel Captiva Business Women’s Association. The event will be in-person at noon at Sundial Beach Resort & Spa with a live stream Noon Zoom option.

“Practicing kindness yields both personal and professional rewards,” said Zurcher-McGauran. “The results of a  focus on decency, listening and respect sound like common sense, but are backed up by research,” she continued. “Anxiety relief, stress reduction and increased productivity are only some of the benefits documented.”

Zurcher-McGauran started as a music therapist in the Tampa Bay area, eventually moving home to Indiana and building a career as a nationally certified licensed mental health counselor with extensive credentials. “My focus is on wellness and living life abundantly,” she explained. “That focus has guided me to a lifelong pursuit of serving others.”

With recognized expertise in domestic violence counseling, depression, anxiety, trauma, and grief issues, Zurcher-McGauran has served in multiple positions on advisory boards and task forces addressing critical social issues. She also served as an adjunct professor teaching post-graduate Ethics at Huntington University in Indiana. Her practice has been featured on the award-winning Sally Jesse Raphael show.  

“Now is the time to bring discussion of kindness and its inherent benefits to the forefront,” said McGauran. “When a culture embraces kindness, people are happier, businesses are more productive, and diverse points of view can be debated with respect.” 

The presentation April 20th will cover the seven “power of kindness” principles and include audience participation. “We need practice on getting back to basic one-on-one communication,” said McGauran. “Self-absorption, broken families and businesses in chaos work against us. The use of digital devices and emojis has removed us from nuances like eye contact and non-verbal communication. All this leads to misinterpretation.”

“The discussion will include the future of kindness and what roles we can play,” added Taylor Osborne, Sanibel Captiva Business Women’s Association president. “The general principle of women supporting women is a prime example of professional kindness. Our group’s mission includes mentoring and networking. Both are great platforms for the kindness principles.”