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Dr. Leeat Granek: Get Familiar with Death

Posted on October 29, 2015 - by Gloria Horsley

A psychologist at McMaster University in Canada, Dr. Leeat Granek talks with the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) about coping with grief. Like many in the bereavement field, Dr. Granek was drawn to the industry because of personal experience. Her mother died of breast cancer, and Dr. Granek immediately set her sights on the field of grief, death, and loss. She’s well-known in her field for her academic work, as well as working with family and patients who are struggling with their own losses. Dr. Granek organizes meetings across Canada to discuss loss. Becoming more comfortable with death […]

Pauline Boss: Ambiguous Losses

Posted on October 28, 2015 - by Gloria Horsley

Dr. Gloria Horsley with the Open to Hope Foundation interviews Dr. Pauline Boss, a professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota. Ambiguous loss is one that’s unclear. It’s not death—perhaps someone is physically missing, such as a soldier MIA or a 9/11 disappearance. There’s also being psychologically missing, like with dementia or severe addiction. In her doctoral research as a grad student, Dr. Boss got interested in ambiguous loss and this has continued throughout her career. It’s different than death because there’s no validation. With no body to bury, no death certificate, and no closure, it’s very challenging to cope. […]

Coping With Guilt after a Loss

Posted on October 27, 2015 - by Bob Baugher

Dr. Bob Baugher is a psychologist and death education instructor at Highline Community College in Seattle, Washington. He’s featured on the Association for Death Education and Counseling’s (ADEC’s) webisode talking about the many ways you can cope with guilt following a loss. After several years of working with the bereaved and helping them address guilt, Dr. Baugher has come up with seven key ways to help. The first is to identify your guilt self-talk. If you say something or think it long enough, you can make it come to life. That’s true of guilt, and it’s common with the bereaved. […]

Making a Photomontage to Celebrate a Life

Posted on October 27, 2015 - by Nancy Gershman, LMSW

The Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) organization features digital artist Nancy Gershman discussing legacy photomontages. It’s a tool to counter grief and regrets, and can help the bereaved move towards a place of acceptance. You can create a photomontage yourself, or rely on an artist like Gershman to create a keepsake for you. Gershman works with clients around the world who send her photos, images, and notes about their loved one so that she can create a one of a kind piece of art that doubles as a memento and celebration of life. She created Art for Your […]

Katie and Marc Markell: Using Fiction to Help Grieving Children

Posted on October 23, 2015 - by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley

The authors of The Children Who Lived, Katie and Marc Markell, join the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) to talk about grieving children and how adults can help. As siblings, their father died in 1963. Their mother raised a total of five children alone, and at the time there was little support for grieving adults (not to mention grieving children). In their town, they were known as the children whose father died. Both Katie and Marc became psychologists. Later, they also both became fans of J.K. Rowling. Using fictional characters like Harry Potter, the Markells help children […]

Stillbirth: A Quiet Death

Posted on October 22, 2015 - by Jill Smoot

When a child you carry in your womb for nearly six months stops moving; when a small tiny life ceases to have breath; when all that you were looking forward to is extinguished; life changes in those moments. A quiet death has taken place. At first not even noticed. Without any warning, an umbilical cord has wrapped itself around this wee infant in the silent world of the unborn. This was to be our fifth child. We were the parents of three sons. We had, only months earlier adopted our first daughter from Korea. Anna was almost one when […]

Phyllis Silverman: Raising Grieving Children

Posted on October 22, 2015 - by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley

The Open to Hope show features Dr. Phyllis Silverman, a bereavement expert who specializes in working with grieving children. While speaking at the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) organization, Dr. Silverman shares nine lessons she’s learned over several years of working in the industry. Currently associated with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Silverman has been an expert in the grief field for over 40 years. Currently, she’s studying what happens in families with dependent children when a sibling dies. First, know that death is a part of life—your own and others. Years ago, Dr. Silverman […]

John Fox: Poetry as Grief Therapy

Posted on October 16, 2015 - by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley

Poetry is a fantastic avenue for art therapy. Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley welcome John Fox, a poet and certified poetry therapist. He’s the author of Poetic Medicine: The Healing Art of Poem-making and Finding What You Didn’t Lose. He’s also the president of The Institute for Poetic Medicine, a non-profit which was created in 2005 to offer poetry/healing projects around the country to the bereaved. “Some people have already been drawn to poetry and write it, while others feel they’re not capable of it or it’s not really something that appeals to them,” he says. His goal? Meet with […]

What We Expect of Men

Posted on October 12, 2015 - by Bob Baugher

As a bi-coastal radio show, Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley interview experts around the world. This episode features Dr. Bob Baugher, a psychology instructor at Highline Community College in Des Moines, Washington. He teaches courses in death education and psychology. He’s also a popular national speaker, and has written several articles and seven books on grief and bereavement. His most current project is a video, “Men & Their Grief; 20 Years Later,” where he follows men on their grief journey over a two decade period. People are more alike than they are different, says Dr. Baugher, and that’s true when […]

Cathy Babao Guballa: When Children Get Ill

Posted on October 11, 2015 - by Heidi Horsley

The founder of Migi’s Corner, Cathy Babao Guballa, speaks with Dr. Heidi Horsley during an Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) conference. As a writer and grief educator, Guballa created Migi’s Corner as a space in pediatric charity wards throughout the Philippines. It was founded in 1998 after Guballa’s four-year-old son, Migi, died from complications during an open heart surgery. Children who are confined to hospitals in the Philippines have a very different experience compared to American children. There’s no such thing as a “children’s ward” actually designed to comfort and entertain children. That’s changed a bit since then, […]