Bereavement Professionals’ Insights
Carrie – Grief and creativity
Carrie talks about creativity and expressing grief and loss… that in many ways can offer insight and comfort for those who are grieving
Caileigh – Advice to my younger self about grief
Caileigh talks about things that you can do to balance out feelings that it’s okay to experience all of the big feelings that you have, to find joy in little moments, and to find ways that you can cope with those big feelings.
Craig – There is No Right Way to Grieve
Craig talks about his experience with grief and how there is no right or wrong way to grieve. He shares his thoughts on how to allow yourself to do what you need to do to heal, even if it doesn’t seem like “self-care.” This video is a reminder that everyone grieves differently and that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to healing.
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.
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.
Jessica M – Finding Hope
Jessica shares memories of her brothers birthday which was just before her mothers death and how they all found hope
Jenn – What an art therapist can show us about processing grief
Jenn talks about how art can give a form to grief. It can give it shape and texture so it can be seen when it is often so invisible. It can also be messy which so like our grief experience
Jacqueline – You don’t have to be an artist
Jacqueline discusses how in art therapy we tap into that child in all of us that is not concerned about what is right or wrong
Calls to Care, Calls to Action: Bearing Witness to Global Catastrophic Loss of Life and Traumatic Events
We bear witness to stories of mass loss of lives, stories of families in Gaza being forced from their land, loss of culture and traditions, and countless other ways systems of colonization and oppression can contribute to other non-death losses those who are directly affected currently and have historically faced. As we discussed in a previous article, we can also experience collective grief following natural disasters, accidents, international conflict, and acts of violence that have resulted in catastrophic loss of lives.