Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Keith – “Timeframe for grief”

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

Maureen – Holiday kindness and grief

Maureen discusses grieving during the holidays and being lifter up by kindness

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.

Shannon – Growing through Grief

Shannon discusses post traumatic growth and how it can be an expectation

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

Claudia – You do not have to be an artist to do art therapy

Claudia explains why you do not have to be an artist to benefit

Corrie – Grieving during a pandemic

Corrie discuss the grieving during a pandemic

Chantal – Giving space

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

Caileigh – Working with children in grief

Caileigh shares why she likes working with and supporting children in grief. “Over the course of their lives, children and youth and families experience a lot of losses, and it’s an empowering job to empower others. I’m not only empowering them, but I’m also building parent capacity in recognizing that it does take a village and it takes a community to support a child.”

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.

Carrie – Creating a photo narrative

Carrie explains how photography can give insight and express things that there reallhy aren’t words for. Photography can be one addtitional way in which to express and capture those moments of our sorrow, grief and pain as well as transformation and healing

Marija – Permission to mourn

Marija discusses the value of being allowing yourself to mourn