Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Weathering the Intense Emotions of Grief

Grief often comes with powerful, unpredictable emotional shifts that can be painful to experience. While it’s important to find ways to sit with these feelings, to acknowledge the pain of grief and accept loss, it’s also necessary to find ways to ease and manage the pain. There are several simple activities that you can explore to help.

Christian – “Growth out of pain”

Christian tells about how grief changes and we grow.

Cara – Intellectual disabilities, sharing and expressing about grief

Cara discusses how it’s very important that people living with intellectual disabilities have the opportunity to not only know about the information about the person being ill and dying and having the choice and opportunity to go to after death rituals. It’s also really important that they get the opportunity to share their story in whatever way they communicate. This can be verbally through sign language, through communication books, art, music, going for walks, being in nature

Cara – Defining Intellectual disabilities and grief

Cara discusses how grief literacy needs to be improved across the board for people with intellectual disabilities to learn more about grief, death and dying. There is a great need to include them in this natural, normal part of life that we’ll all experience.

Amanda – “Hospice like home”

Amanda discusses the value of feeling like being at home during palliative care.

Claudia – Taking your art home after art therapy

Claudia talks about why sometimes not to take your art home after therapy

Corrie – Grief is like a rollercoaster

Corrie talks about grief over time

Chantal – Giving space

Chantal discusses how it is good and honouring to the one you’ve lost to give space and feel everything

Janice – “It’s hard work”

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

Rev. Sky – “It’s OK to cry”

Rev. Sky talks about loss due to gun violence, that it’s OK to cry and finding an outlet.

Grief, Exhaustion, & Rest

Many people consider grief to be a response to the death of a loved one, but we grieve so much more than that. Grief is an emotional response to loss of any kind. Both real or perceived loss can trigger the response. The loss of a job, a miscarriage, a breakup, losing a sentimental item,…

Christian – “Grief can bring new life”

Christian explains where he found hope in grief.