Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Donna – “Helping a grieving friend”

Donna shares some practical ways to help someone in grief.

Michele – Expressive arts and healing grief

Michele defines expressive arts and how they can help healing in grief

Carrie – Validation

Carrie talks about validation and feeling that someone is full responsive and fully present to you and what is going on in your grief… feeling “felt”

Chantal – My Story

Chantal discusses finding a release in doing a graphic novel to explore her grief as a thesis in art therapy school

Jean – Traditions and grief

Jean discusses belief systems and traditions

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.

Cara – People with intellectual disabilities need to be recognized and honoured in their grief

Cara talks about grievers living with intellectual disabilities and that it’s not about those of us who are neuro-typical, giving them a voice or providing them or saying things for them. Rather, it’s that they already have a voice. They already have these experiences and they want them to be recognized, acknowledged and honoured.

Jacqueline – How to help a grieving friend

Jacqueline discusses the power of just being there with someone in grief

Maureen – “Counselling… a safe place”

Maureen discusses the right counselling space for you.

Sara – Music and celebration of life

Sara explains how music can play an importand and significant role in celebrations of life.

Sara – Lyrics

Sara talks about how lyrics can have an impact on how we experience music

Claudia – Art, art as therapy and art therapy

Claudia discusses the definition of therapy and how art therapists are formally trained.