I Am A Professional

Caileigh – Parent Capacity

February 23, 2023

Caileigh discusses parent capacity and and how to support their child through their grief is all about inspiring them and empowering them so that they can help their child.

Bereavement Professionals' Insights / I Am A Professional / Supporting Others / Video

Kristal – Professional Experience and Work

April 23, 2023

Kristal discusses being a peer support woker, working on a one on one level with community members to help them with their goals related to substance abuse. She supports those in the community dealing with loss and grief. She speaks to everyone’s experience with loss and grief being very individual.

Collective/Community Grief / Death By Overdose / Drug Poisoning and the Pandemic / I Am A Professional / Video

Jessica M – Finding Hope

June 13, 2023

Jessica shares memories of her brothers birthday which was just before her mothers death and how they all found hope

Bereavement Professionals' Insights / Death of A Loved One / Death of a Parent / I Am A Griever / I Am A Professional / Video

Jessica M – The value of talking about grief

June 13, 2023

Jessica talks about living in North America and the fear many people have about talking about grief but that it is very important to talk. It makes us feel less alone and helps us move through our grief. It’s also how you can keep your lost one alive.

Bereavement Professionals' Insights / Death of A Loved One / Death of a Parent / I Am A Griever / I Am A Professional / I Am A Supporter / Supporting Others / Video

Preparing For and Coping with Special Days

December 13, 2024

Special Days can be days we have honoured with our loved ones that many others celebrate or more personal dates and milestones with your loved one. As these days approach, it can be difficult to figure out how to move through a Special Day. Do you do what you’ve always done? What do you do…

Bereavement Professionals' Insights / Blog Post / I Am A Griever / I Am A Professional / I Am A Supporter

Kristal – Grieving the Whole Person

April 23, 2023

Kristal discusses the importance of recognizing and grieving the entire person who was lost – not just who they were before they had been using drugs.

Death By Overdose / Drug Poisoning and the Pandemic / I Am A Professional / Video

Kristal – Poetry, Comedy, & Art for Grieving

April 23, 2023

Kristal discusses using poetry and other forms of creative expression as a distraction from her grief and to disassociate in a safe and productive way. She discusses grief being love with nowhere to go, so she puts it into art.

Art / Death By Overdose / Drug Poisoning and the Pandemic / I Am A Professional / Video

There One Day and Gone the Next : Art Therapy and Grief

December 2, 2022

This blog post contains information about using art therapy to process grief, including specific examples.

Art / Bereavement Professionals' Insights / Blog Post / I Am A Professional / Supporting Others

Grief and Disability: Carrie’s Story

September 20, 2022

It has become clear to me over time that we have much work to do to ensure the delivery of disability-sensitive grief literacy and grief support. In March of 2022 my proposal for four 1-hour sessions was approved, we provided the program for 20 participants. My heart was full in each session.

My heart remains full of hope that conversations, education, and expertise about disability sensitive end of life care and grief support will gain momentum as more and more people join in on this vital conversation.

Bereavement Professionals' Insights / Blog Post / Grief and Trauma / I Am A Professional / Supporting Others

Christian – Supporting people who may die

April 23, 2023

Christian talks about going from zero overdoses to 50 in a matter of months and how to help people who may die

Death and Grief During a Pandemic / Death By Overdose / Drug Poisoning and the Pandemic / I Am A Professional / Video

Kristal – Drug Poisoning During Pandemic Stigma

April 23, 2023

Kristal discusses how the pandemic has created additional stigma surrounding those who use drugs. She dissuses how it seems like some losses are treated as more deserving of being mourned than others. Many people have had to grieve privately instead of publically within a community. She touches on the state of the public health system during the pandemic.

Collective/Community Grief / Death By Overdose / Drug Poisoning and the Pandemic / I Am A Professional / Video

Jessica M – It’s OK not to cry

June 13, 2023

Jessica discusses how grief is individual and finding the way forward can be different for everyone.

Bereavement Professionals' Insights / I Am A Professional / Video