Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Maureen – “Trust yourself”

Maureen talks about finding your own way in your healing process.

Madelyn – Accept what you are feeling

Madelyn talks about how it’s ok to not be ok.

Janice – “Let the feelings come up”

Janice talks about how it can help to let the feelings come up.

Keith – “Hope”

Keith talks about time, healing and hope.

Maureen – “Pregnancy and infant loss”

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

Maureen – “Unresolved conflicts”

Maureen shares about her Dad, anger, love and some tools to manage unresolved conflicts.

Christian – “Grief in the opioid crisis”

Christian talks about looking for answers in great sadness.

Janice – “Grief is a response to loss”

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

Rev. Sky – “Yearning”

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

Alongside

That is also our best, and only role, when supporting a person with a developmental disability to grieve. We must be the one that comes alongside. There is no closer place we can get to. We must be present, be with, perhaps not understanding or comprehending what the person we support is experiencing, but alongside them nonetheless. We must be there, ready to provide whatever we can discover of their unique need in grief.

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.

Rev. Sky – “Wallowing”

Rev. Sky talks about how wallowing can help you release emotions and heal.