Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Corrie – Talking to children about death and dying

Corrie explains how to discuss death and dying with children

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

Rev. Sky – “Retraumatization”

Rev. Sky discusses trauma and re-experiencing the initial emotion had at the beginning of a loss.

Maureen – “Grief can come back”

Maureen explains however grief comes back, you are OK.

Janice- “Stay with feelings”

Janice talks about how feelings can be buried and how working through them can help.

Jean – It’s all about love

Jean talks about losing her husband to a heart attack on valentines day

Jessica M – The value of talking about grief

Jessica talks about living in North America and the fear many people have about talking about grief but that it is very important to talk. It makes us feel less alone and helps us move through our grief. It’s also how you can keep your lost one alive.

Carrie – Validation

Carrie talks about validation and feeling that someone is full responsive and fully present to you and what is going on in your grief… feeling “felt”

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.

Sara – Music at the end of life

Sara talks about the values of music at the end of life

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.

Keith – “Timeframe for grief”

Keith explains it is never too late to grieve and there is no timeline.