Vicki Hannah Lein, MS Counseling
- Conference Presenter and Keynoter
- Award-winning Distinguished Educator
- International Educational Consultant
- Drug and Alcohol Therapist
- Author
- Singer/Songwriter
- Creativity Recovery Specialist
- Artist
- Vicki has presented at: International conferences in North America, Central America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, India, Singapore, and Indonesia and State and National conferences.
“Vicki’s music feeds the cravings I have for love, laughter and light. Her music is a smorgasbord of beauty, peace and outrageous silliness that fills my soul and tickles my funny bone. She is a soulful alchemist–laughter and soul become one inside her beautiful voice. Vicki feeds my heart whenever I hear her sing. She keeps me nourished, keeps me well, keeps a smile on my face, and brightens my day ….” ~ Francie O’Shea, www.teamcrown.net
Brief Summary of Education and Experience
- BA English
- High school teacher and speech coach
- Drug and alcohol counselor
- Employee Assistance Counselor.
- MS Counselling, taught writing at Oregon State University to help finance my degree.
- Elementary school counselor. Wrote songs and presented assemblies to teach hope and life skills.
- Won some awards, including Distinguished Oregon Educator.
- Presented nationally with Seminars for Educational Excellence and Staff Development for Educators.
- Presented internationally to schools on five continents. (Penguins do not seem to be interested in what I have to offer. Go figure.)
- Present: I am performing musical keynotes, online workshops, group training, and private coaching.
Creativity Recovery Specialist
If a blind, AARP member can create this art, you can follow your bliss as well.
Vicki’s Bas Relief
“I am legally blind and I wanted to find a way to express myself artistically with my vision as it is. I found it! Fabric, glue, and bling give me the permission to amuse myself without fear of anyone’s judgement. Trusting joy has helped me free myself from inner restrictions I was unaware of. Creating this art is the purist thing I do or have ever done. If I can do it, so can you.” ~ Vicki
You don’t have to go blind to learn how to find the funny faster, but it helps.
When my mother was 40 she went blind from a rare genetic disease. She was misdiagnosed, so the rest of her family was told it was not genetic and we had nothing to worry about. This turned out not to be true. When I was 37 a blood vessel burst in my left eye, and I knew I had my mother’s eye disease. Shortly thereafter, I lost central vision in my left eye. In 1994 by loss of central vision in my right eye, I became legally blind.
At the time I lost my vision, I was going through a divorce, and my job as a counselor for a school district was disappearing underneath me. I was terrified. I slept with a teddy bear. I was quite serious about sleeping with my teddy bear. Plugging a cord into an electrical outlet was so difficult for me that I would sometimes break into sobs. If I couldn’t plug in a toaster, I thought to myself, how was I going to handle the rest of my life?
This adventure of blindness has been an amazing gift. I have been forced to find the funny faster. This takes humor and grit, and plenty of it. If I can do it, you can do it too.