Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Kristal – Attending Memorials as a Support Worker

Kristal discusses the importance of finding ways to honour people that have been lost and how they have impacted you. She speaks to how she often chooses not to attend public memorials for those she has lost as a support worker as they are often very overwhelming. Instead, she has her own personal rituals or ways of honouring those she has lost personally including opening a window. She discusses how this practice was used when she worked in palliative care.

Shannon – Power of Presence

Shannon discusses how just showing up, being present is a powerful way of supporting to someone who has lost. Listen more – talk less.

Jean – My own grief and being a professional counsellor

Jean shares about being a counselor and going through her own grief

Jacqueline – Crying

Jacqueline talks about how grief is love and how crying is natural

Grief, Breastfeeding, and Care

In this essay, I share a bit about my story of grief and breastfeeding. I also share some thoughts about the cultural grief some people are carrying about the lack of support afforded to lactating families whose goal it is to feed their baby from their body. I use some gendered language throughout this essay…

Marija – Grieving Situational Losses in a Pandemic

Marija talks about feelings associated with grief and Covid

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

Caileigh – A safe place to grow and heal

Caileigh talks about how accessing play therapy can support everybody. When children have that safe place to heal, everybody around them feels good and can heal, too.

Maureen – “My miscarriages and attachment”

Maureen tells about her miscarriages, attachment and understanding why she felt so terrible.

Michele – Expressive arts and healing grief

Michele defines expressive arts and how they can help healing in grief

Left Out: Enfranchising Children’s Grief and Loss

By: Jessica Milette, MSW, RSW All human beings have the capacity to grieve: people with intellectual disabilities, those living with a traumatic brain injury, and children of all ages. However, many people can experience disenfranchised grief when someone dies. Disenfranchised grief is generally grief that is not usually openly acknowledged, socially accepted or publicly mourned.…

Maureen – “If someone you know has experienced pregnancy & infant loss”

Maureen explains practical tools to help someone who is grieving.