Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Rev. Sky – “Feeling numb”

Rev. Sky discusses how feeling numb is a normal emotion and what you need to move forward.

Sara – Creating music

Sara explains how creating music can be a part of the grieving process

Maureen – “Carrying grief”

Maureen gives an analogy of how hard it is to carry griefMaureen gives an analogy of how hard it is to carry grief.

Maureen – “Peer vs professional support”

Maureen talks about getting help and what is right for you.

Janice – “It’s hard work”

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

Corrie – Getting comfortable with discomfort

Corrie talks about being comfortable and uncomfortable with grief

Amanda – “No person is an island”

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

Jessica M – A Parking Lot Memorial

Jessica shares how her family gathered after her uncle died during COVID and how her family came up with a creative way of getting together in a parking lot.

Shannon – Enough

Shannon talks about us all doing the very best we can from the perspectives of a licensed clinical counselor and losing her husband to suicide.

Jenn – Your art completely belongs to you

Jenn explains the wonderful thing about art is that piece belongs completely to you and you have the power to do whatever you wish with it . She makes some suggestions as to what you may want to do.

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 – The real issues for grieving people with intellectual disabilities

Cara provides some context for the real issue of grief in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and those supporting them, including that we consider that there’s not a lot of education or information out there about how best to support someone with an intellectual disability who is grieving.