DIANE MAKAR MURPHY Humor helps relieve stress, bring out self-esteem

All stressed out and no one to choke?
Not Karen Vadino, the Liberty resident and nationally known motivational speaker, who presents a workshop under that title. Others include "Conflict Resolution," "Peer Mediation," "Affairs of the Mind" and "Laughing: Just for the Health of it," soon to be presented in Youngstown.
Vadino is a self-described "old, short, fat person" who is just plain delighted to be who she is. Her talks, including the one set for July 30 at the Oakland Center for the Arts as a fund-raiser for breast cancer awareness, have the goal of getting listeners to feel that way too.
"I don't think people know what to think of me," the 49-year-old Vadino said. "I see men sitting in the audience like this." She folded her arms across her chest and scowled.
"But then, I get them laughing," she said. Laughter is a main focus of her talks in addition to establishing self-esteem.
Vadino is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a master's in social work and has taught part time at Youngstown State, Penn State and Westminster.
Positions with Trumbull County and Mahoning County Children Services and as a counselor in a group home have put her in the trenches. "I put it like the Peace Corps -- the hardest job I ever loved," she said.
"I came from a white suburbia, middle-class environment," Vadino said. "My dad had rules. I had no idea there were parents who hurt their children. I called my parents and thanked them."
Her experience
Vadino also worked as a psychiatric social worker for children at Sagamore Hills Children's Psychiatric Hospital, outside Cleveland, in another high-stress position.
Getting involved with Mahoning County's drug and alcohol prevention program, and then Ashtabula's, however, is what finally led Vadino to being a full-time, touring, motivational speaker.
"'Hey. Karen, go talk to the kids at this school.' What? I hadn't even taken a speech class, and it scared me," Vadino said. "My family, and the majority of my friends, are just hilarious though. So I chose that. I decided to give humorous presentations."
Her first was in 1981 at a drug and alcohol prevention Leadership Camp for teens. "I worked up a presentation for self-esteem and peer pressure." It was warmly received. "I'm still doing that speech basically. I have realized that kids are kids are kids across time, across space," she said.
By 1993, Vadino took the leap to presenting full time, approaching each podium with little more than a few key words scribbled on a piece of paper. "Every story I tell is an experience that really happened to me," she said. Her talks bring to life the characters from her life -- her niece and nephew, at various ages; a little 16-year-old girl shaped much like Vadino who was intimidated by a challenge course wall; the people who've approached her after workshops.
Vadino has presented for Ohio Supreme Court training, Attorney Generals Conference on Domestic Violence, Ohio Family Care Association, Illinois Drug Education Alliance, and Pennsylvania Association of Student Assistance Programs, among others.
What she does
She has been hired to motivate, consult with, or de-stress teachers, social workers, counselors, parents and police officers from Ohio to California.
"One reason I stay so busy is that people are so stressed and need humor," Vadino said.
Vadino just returned from presenting a 90-minute workshop to Girl Scout leaders from 15 states. "Afterward, a woman came up to me and said, 'This workshop was not at all what I thought it would be, but it was exactly what I needed.'"
murphy@vindy.com
XFrom 7 to 8:30 p.m. July 30, Vadino will present "Laughing: Just for the Health of it" at the Oakland Center for the Performing Arts, 220 W. Boardman St., Youngstown. All profits from the $20 admission ticket will go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and breast cancer survivors. For more information, call (330) 759-7024.