Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Amanda – “Ministry of Presence”

Amanda discusses how being present with someone can be helpful.

Michele – Covid and virtual support

MIchele discuss support and how COVID has affected our grief in so many waysort

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.

Donna – “Living with grief”

Donna talks about the threads of grief and her personal experience.

Rev. Sky – “Yearning”

Rev. Sky discusses yearning and how it’s OK to feel those emotions.

Maureen – “Peer vs professional support”

Maureen talks about getting help and what is right for you.

Caileigh – Advice to my younger self about grief

Caileigh talks about things that you can do to balance out feelings that it’s okay to experience all of the big feelings that you have, to find joy in little moments, and to find ways that you can cope with those big feelings.

Carrie – Photography and grieving

Carrie discusses how photography can be very freeing in that it allows for exploration and move us away from the need to explain and can be more about experience what our own process is all about.

Cara – Grief and intellectual disabilities is a topic that needs to “get out there”

Cara shares some information from a participant in her research on intellectual disabilities and the bereaved. A person with an intellectual disability said… “Grief: It’s a topic that needs to get out there” Grief is something that so many people are hesitant to talk about, to display, to show, because there’s so many social rules around how we grieve. This is particularily challenging for the intellectually disabled.

Jessica M – Legacy

Jessica explains legacy and gives examples including her own.

Maureen – Grief and Holidays

Maureen talks about feelings duing holidays

Jacqueline – Advice to Younger Self

Jacqueline talks about seeking help and being kind to yourself