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Posted on September 16, 2018 - by Yvonne Lancaster

Coming home was a tough time of day. It signaled the end of the occupational work day, and the beginning of the personal work evening…preparing dinner, doing laundry, taxiing kids, whatever else kept me going until 11 p.m. My 5 p.m. homecoming blues had often been softened by seeing my oldest son Brian’s familiar dark blue Chevy Citation sitting in the driveway. His bumper stickers read: “Free the Beaches” and “Save the Whales.” My heart was always warmed to know I’d raised a son who was a caring person. As I deftly balanced grocery bags, a trick I’ve learned over the […]

Critical Care Family and Staff Support: Interview with Sue Gammill

Posted on September 15, 2018 - by Gloria Horsley

At the annual ADEC (Association of Death Education and Counseling), I spoke with Sue Gammill about her work with families of patients being a liaison between physicians and families. Sue has always believed that how we handle death in health care is important to the survivors. Sue works in the pediatric intensive care unit in Atlanta, Georgia and she believe they could be doing a better job. So what Sue did was write a proposal that she called “My Dream Job”. Sue explains more about the role she created for herself in the video below. Here are some key takeaways […]

Shame and Grief: Interview with Jeffrey Kauffman

Posted on September 13, 2018 - by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley

At the annual ADEC (Association of Death Education and Counseling), I spoke with Jeffrey Kauffman about shame after grief and how complicated grief can be the result of the shame. Jeffrey is the author of a book called “The Shame Of Death, Grief, and Trauma.” Shame is a topic a lot of people shy away from, but the truth is there’s a lot of shame involved in grief. In the video below, Jeffrey explains how we can move through the shame and heal. Here are some key takeaways from the video: Shame is the biggest hidden emotional factor is people’s […]

Willingness in Grief

Posted on September 11, 2018 - by Nina Impala

Willingness means the state of being prepared to do something, readiness. But here’s the thing you may not have been ready for a loved one dying. Your mind will ask the incessant questions… Why now? Is that time predicted? Do we have a destiny? Why did God let my family member pass away? I miss them so much, did they go to heaven? Are we ever ready for the death of a loved one? Let that hang in the air for a second or two. Old or young, terminal or not. It seems like our human brains are not equipped […]

Grief: A More Peaceful Definition

Posted on September 11, 2018 - by Mike Russell

The word “grief” brings the impression of negativity, like when you are supposed to act, feel or think a certain way. This continues through the time line that is created by other’s thoughts around us that have lost someone. It is almost like grievers are the ones being directed on stage by an unknown force. But my contention is that grief would be much better explained by the phrase, “moments of remembrance.” Think about it, we would no longer be caught in the trap of society’s control-conscious, albeit good intentions, of the word grief. Moments of remembrance completely frees us […]

Expressive Arts to Heal from Grief: Interview with Brianne Overton

Posted on September 11, 2018 - by Heidi Horsley

At the annual ADEC (Association of Death Education and Counseling), I spoke with Brianne Overton about using the healing arts to help people cope with grief. In the video below, Brianne discusses healing/expressive arts and how they can help you get through the grieving process. Here are some key takeaways from the video: Drawing, writing, poetry, storyboards, and music can all be used as healing arts. Anything that allows you to express yourself creatively. When it comes to storyboards, you start off with just a blank piece of paper folded into 4’s or 6’s. From there, draw a picture in one […]

Ila Roy: Culture and Grief

Posted on September 9, 2018 - by Heidi Horsley

Ila Roy of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spoke with Open to Hope’s Executive Director Dr. Heidi Horsley during the 2015 Association for Death Education and Counseling conferences about the relationship between culture and grief. As a member of the social work team in the clinical centers of the NIH, Roy is placed in the ICU of the hematology/oncology non-transplant branch of the hospital. “I deal, unfortunately, with loss a lot,” she says. When asked about her experience being born and raised in India, and how that may differ from the grief process in the US, Roy says that […]

Continuing Bonds After The Loss Of A Parent: Interview with Brittany Trauthwein

Posted on September 8, 2018 - by Heidi Horsley

At the annual ADEC (Association of Death Education and Counseling), I spoke with Brittany Trauthwein about continuing bonds after loss. Brittany is a doctorate student at the Chicago Professional School of Psychology who is writing a dissertation about continuing bonds after the death of a parent. In the video below, Brittany discusses how she got into this topic and why it was so important for her to write about it as her dissertation. Here are some key takeaways from the video: During the first year of her schooling, Brittany lost her father. That was when people started telling her stories […]

Art of Grieving, After Loss of Child: Interview With Dr. Delores Gulledge

Posted on September 7, 2018 - by Heidi Horsley

At the annual ADEC (Association of Death Education and Counseling), I spoke with Dr. Delores Gulledge about life after the death of her 17 year old daughter Melanie. She shares how she went forward with her life and found a way to help others. Delores is also the author of a book called “A Mourning Miracle”, which she wrote while in the process of putting her life back together after the death of her daughter. Her book was written to help others who are going through the same experience. In the video below, Delores share her advice on how to […]

Giving Back After Coping with a Loss: Interview with Dr.Janna Henning

Posted on September 6, 2018 - by Heidi Horsley

At the annual ADEC (Association of Death Education and Counseling), I spoke with Dr. Janna Henning about her losses and how she went on to help other people the way she helped herself. Getting into the field of death and dying was influenced by Janna’s own loss experience. At the age of 21, Janna was in a car accident where her best friend died. Six months later, Janna’s partner was killed in a similar accident. For Janna, having those two loss experiences in her 20’s influenced her way of understanding loss. When Janna later entered the field of psychology it […]