Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Cara – My story with intellectual disabilities and grief

Cara talks about how she came to see how people with intellectual disabilities need to be supported in grief

Rev. Sky – “Youth alert”

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

Madelyn – Holding space

Madelyn explains how holding space can help anyone in grief

Caileigh – Recommendations as a therapist and a griever

Caileigh discussed two recommendations for parents on how to support their child’s grief. as a therapist and a griever. The first is to recognize that being with is far more important than fixing. There’s two pieces to connection. The first being that one of the most important healing aspects to grief is feeling connected to others.

Christian – “Jeff’s Story”

Christian tells Jeff”s story… the good and his struggles.

Janice – “Grief is a response to loss”

Janice discusses waves of grief and how important it is to go with it.

Janice – “Go into feelings”

Janice explains how important it is to pay attention to your feelings.

Shannon – Blessings and sadness

Shannon discusses how just showing up, being present is a powerful way of supporting to someone who has lost. Listen more – talk less.

Shannon – Losing is a life skill

Shannon shares about losing her husband to suicide, her parents and her father-in-law. She felt broken and to be able to take care of her kids and her self seemed overwhelming. It took someone telling her that you can heal from trauma to give her hope for healing.

Chantal – Graphic novels and art therapy

Chantal defines what a graphic novel is and how words mix with imagery like a dance

Christian – “Growth out of pain”

Christian tells about how grief changes and we grow.

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.