Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Janice – “Grief is a response to loss”

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

Cheryl – “My story” short version

Cheryl talks about her daughter’s organ donations.

Jenn – The difference between expressive and creative arts

Jenn explains the difference between expressive and creative arts. You don’t have to limit yourself to art making to help you through your grief process. Expressive arts encompasses a wide variety of approaches including drama, dance, movement, writing and music

Janice – “It’s hard work”

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

Jeff K – “What is grief”

Jeff discusses the many aspects of grief and how we are all connected. Jeff continues to grieve the death of his mother.

Maureen – “Pregnancy and infant loss”

Maureen explains how pregnancy and infant loss is often misunderstood or underestimated.

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.

Donna – “Living with grief”

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

Amanda – “It’s a gift to love someone”

Amanda talks about grief and it’s connection to love.

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.

Cheryl – “My story”

Cheryl talks about her daughter’s organ donations.

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.