Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Chantal – The benefits of the physical part of art making

Chantal talks about how art can release energy in a healthy cathartic way

Corrie – Grief is like a rollercoaster

Corrie talks about grief over time

Jessica M – My Story

Jessica talks about losing her grandfather at 14 when her mother was terminal, her mother and aunt died when she was 15. She felt alone until she found a peer support group

Donna – “Living with grief”

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

Rev. Sky – “Why”

Rev. Sky talks about the question of why and how to look beyond it.

Rev. Sky – “Yearning”

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

Cara – Intellectual disabilities, sharing and expressing about grief

Cara discusses how it’s very important that people living with intellectual disabilities have the opportunity to not only know about the information about the person being ill and dying and having the choice and opportunity to go to after death rituals. It’s also really important that they get the opportunity to share their story in whatever way they communicate. This can be verbally through sign language, through communication books, art, music, going for walks, being in nature

Cheryl – “What is grief”

Cheryl defines grief and talks about how we all grieve differently.

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.

Christian – “Remembering together in a meaningful way”

Christian discusses the power of memories.

Amanda – “No person is an island”

Amanda talks about the power of community and the importance of reaching out.

Calls to Care, Calls to Action: Bearing Witness to Global Catastrophic Loss of Life and Traumatic Events

We bear witness to stories of mass loss of lives, stories of families in Gaza being forced from their land, loss of culture and traditions, and countless other ways systems of colonization and oppression can contribute to other non-death losses those who are directly affected currently and have historically faced. As we discussed in a previous article, we can also experience collective grief following natural disasters, accidents, international conflict, and acts of violence that have resulted in catastrophic loss of lives.