Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Tending to My Garden of Grief

So long as I remember the lives of those I have lost, honour their presence and impact on me and celebrate their spirit, they will continue to live with me and the pain will feel bearable. It will no longer stop me in my tracks. Instead, it will encourage me and propel me forward through the transmutation of that grief into something different, something more nuanced and fluid. I’d like to share a practice for processing grief which I have found to be especially helpful.

Jean – Traditions and grief

Jean discusses belief systems and traditions

Jenn – Art can be grounding and meditative

Jenn explains how the textures , qualities and colours of art can be grounding and meditative

Adrianna – Metabolizing grief

Adrianna explains metabolizing grief and grief literacy training

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

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 – “Overdose Death”

Christian talks about an overdose death not defining who that person was.

Janice – “Photographs”

Janice explains how photographs can be a doorway to help move forward.

Janice – “Grieving as long as you need to grieve”

Janice talks about her personal grief experiences and understanding the need for grieving as long as you need to.

Claudia – Working with an art therapist

Claudia how all art making is theraputic and working with an art therapist amplifies the process in a positive way

Michele – Creative expression and processing grief

Michele tells what advice she would give to her younger grieving selfMichele talks about coping that since being a child how creativity helped

Maureen – Holiday kindness and grief

Maureen discusses grieving during the holidays and being lifter up by kindness