Vision Therapy Canada Annual Conference 2021

What an amazing weekend! I have been to a many online conferences and courses and I will say, this was a lot of fun! There was great education and learned some important things that I think will have reinforce ideas with patients and therapy and I was fortunate to be able to do this alongside with my therapists.

The speaker list was amazing—Drs. Rob Lewis, Caroline Hurst, Angela Peddle and Patricia Fink. What I loved was how open and sharing each of the speakers were. It was very helpful to see and hear their thoughts on many of the issues that can arise in a vision therapy setting.

I loved being able to discuss the concepts with my therapists as the course unfolded and not have to wait until Monday to be able to share. It was great to hear that they, like I did, would think of specific patients in therapy and how a specific technique may help.

As a member of the board of directors of VTC, I was also excited to see the Vision Therapy Board come together and evolve from an organization to a team. I still am trying to find the words to express that feeling.

I am so grateful for the team that I have in my practice. What a fun and exciting time it is and during the pandemic! I know I am blessed. I cannot wait for our next chance to learn together; our education calendar for 2022 is already getting full with my return to the 5-weekend Sanet Series, this time with the entire team and VTCs annual conference 2022 in Ottawa.

It’s already the end of the week and the energy in the office is still high; I absolutely love this!

One theme that keeps popping up for me this past year is the importance of safety. Safety for our patients, office, family and self. I think the reason this weekend was so much fun was there was safety among friends. Safety to learn, safety to ask questions, and safety to share. So important!

"I spent a lot of years trying to outrun or outsmart vulnerability by making things certain and definite, black and white, good and bad. My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are wrought with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few." -Brene Brown

By providing the appropriate level of safety, it allows us to be comfortable in discomfort. It is in this discomfort that potential change takes place. I was taught this concept by Dr. Robert Sanet. Yes this is something that I think we already understood, but to have it purposefully pointed out...what an important concept!

I will continue to embrace these moments and successes and try to provide the safety for those around me. In the meantime, be safe…

Hansel M Huang, OD, FCOVD
Executive Board Member of Vision Therapy Canada
Director/Trustee Executive Board of Optometric Extension Program Foundation