Bereavement Professionals’ Insights

Preparing For and Coping with Special Days

Special Days can be days we have honoured with our loved ones that many others celebrate or more personal dates and milestones with your loved one. As these days approach, it can be difficult to figure out how to move through a Special Day. Do you do what you’ve always done? What do you do…

Christian – “Overdose Death”

Christian talks about an overdose death not defining who that person was.

Janice- “Stay with feelings”

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

Shannon – Guilt vs Shame

Shannon talks about guilt can be a part of the grieving process but shame has to do with “is there something wrong with me”

Jen – “Yoga for grief”

Jen discusses how yoga can help release stress and give you strength to help deal with the circumstances you need to deal with.

Chantal – My Story

Chantal discusses finding a release in doing a graphic novel to explore her grief as a thesis in art therapy school

Jean – Be good to yourself

Jean shares about support and not being hard on yourself

Shannon – Losing is a life skill

Shannon shares about losing her husband to suicide, her parents and her father-in-law. She felt broken and to be able to take care of her kids and her self seemed overwhelming. It took someone telling her that you can heal from trauma to give her hope for healing.

Maureen – “Grief can change the landscape of your relationships”

Maureen discusses how relationships can be challenged by grief.

Jenn – In grief an art therapist can be there to walk with you

Jenn discusses how an art therapists can support you in those moments of pain. They are there to honour your stories and experiences.

Janice – “Not feeling grief when someone dies”

Janice talks about why some people don’t feel grief and what it may mean.

Cara – People with intellectual disabilities need to be recognized and honoured in their grief

Cara talks about grievers living with intellectual disabilities and that it’s not about those of us who are neuro-typical, giving them a voice or providing them or saying things for them. Rather, it’s that they already have a voice. They already have these experiences and they want them to be recognized, acknowledged and honoured.