I Am A Professional
Nicole – Working in Community Outreach
Nicole discusses her work in community outreach and how she has lived experience with addiction and living rough.
Caileigh – Grief and child behaviour
Caileigh explains when a child experiences grief or a traumatic grief experience, there’s often behaviour that comes from that. Grief impacts behaviour. And sometimes it can be outward behaviour and sometimes it can be internalized behaviour. The good news about grief and behaviour is that it can be managed and supported through effective communication, through therapy and through coping strategies.
Kristal – Lack of Memorials During Pandemic
Kristal talks about how memorials can offer closure to people who are grieving, find a community, and share stories. With the absence of this during the pandemic, many people turned inward to grieve or isolated, which can create safety issues and have an impact on mental health. She speaks to how this leads to depression, physical pain, and it compounds upon itself.
Jessica M – A Parking Lot Memorial
Jessica shares how her family gathered after her uncle died during COVID and how her family came up with a creative way of getting together in a parking lot.
Jessica M – Grief is unique for each person
Jessica discusses our uniquenesses during grief, giving yourself permission to grieve and that there are many ways of self care during grief.
Caileigh – Working with children in grief
Caileigh shares why she likes working with and supporting children in grief. “Over the course of their lives, children and youth and families experience a lot of losses, and it’s an empowering job to empower others. I’m not only empowering them, but I’m also building parent capacity in recognizing that it does take a village and it takes a community to support a child.”
Kristal – Attending Memorials as a Support Worker
Kristal discusses the importance of finding ways to honour people that have been lost and how they have impacted you. She speaks to how she often chooses not to attend public memorials for those she has lost as a support worker as they are often very overwhelming. Instead, she has her own personal rituals or ways of honouring those she has lost personally including opening a window. She discusses how this practice was used when she worked in palliative care.
Christian – Autonomy for the homeless
Christian discusses those who are unhoused and how they want a space that is theirs and how we need to take that seriously especially when it comes to grief
Christian – Grieving those who died of drug poisoning
Christian talks about grieving, stigma and dying from drug poisoning
Christian – Denial and grieving
Christian discusses what happens after members of the community die from drug poisoning and how it’s OK for grief to be messy
Kristal – Anger with Grief
Kristal discusses finding ways to channel her anger due to poor policy leading to deaths from drug poisoning and those individuals not having the support they needed. She discusses how human beings have the right to be flawed and should have the ability to grow, heal, and change.