Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Rev. Sky – “It gets easier”

Rev. Sky talks about time and allowing emotion.

Michele – My Story

MIchele talks about her multiple losses starting from when she was very young

Maureen – “Anger”

Maureen talks about the power of anger and how to deal with it.

Rev. Sky – “Youth alert”

Rev. Sky talks about youth and when it’s time to reach out for support.

Cara – The real issues for grieving people with intellectual disabilities

Cara provides some context for the real issue of grief in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and those supporting them, including that we consider that there’s not a lot of education or information out there about how best to support someone with an intellectual disability who is grieving.

Cara – Intellectual disabilities and advance planning

Cara explains that people living with intellectual disabilities are growing to older ages, much like the rest of the population. And as folks are aging what we’re seeing is the need for families more so than ever, to do some advanced planning for who will take over any caregiving decision making or where that person may live, what sort of support they may need and what that’s going to look like after the parents or the guardians die so that this doesn’t become a crisis situation.

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.

Katie “Ongoing Grief”

Katie talks about the loss of her mother.

Madelyn – Rituals and the Chinese grieving process

Madelyn talks about expressing your grief in Chinese cultures and how rituals are a war of grieving providing comfort

Janice – “It’s hard work”

Janice explains that hard work is necessary to reach the calm and peace.

Professional Insights Playlist

Listen to the thoughts and insights of professionals helping people and families to cope with grief.

Adrianna – Triggers and the ball in the box analogy

Adrianna gives some great insights on how to deal with triggers