This article was updated 20 October, 2022. It features Dr Katrin Berger’s thoughts on pain management at the end of life. When Dr Katrin Gerber shared her thoughts about the important topic of pain management at the end of life, it brought back many memories. My mother died in a … Read more
This article was update on 12 October, 2022. It features Feel the Magic an organisation by John and Kristy Thomas. Every now and then we meet or hear of someone working in the grief space, with an idea that is truly magical. Feel the Magic by John and Kristy Thomas, … Read more
This article was updated on 4 October, 2022. It features Jessica Rowe talking about grief. What has grief taught you? “I’m like so many people in our culture, so I don’t do grief well. Very few of us do grief well. We don’t talk about it enough, we shy away … Read more
Grief is socially isolating but it doesn’t need to be – we can provide the community we need when someone dies, Joanna McIlveen explained. We were at a Professional Development Day for the Workskills teachers of the St George and Sutherland Community College. Jo’s presentation was profound. Here are some … Read more
This article was updated on September 22, 2022. It discusses loss and sorrow in our community. Claudia is a warm face who brightens up my local coffee shop, first thing in the morning. She works for a mission organisation, Church Missionary Society. But we’ve chatted with her today because she’s … Read more
This article was updated on 16 September, 2022. It features roadside memorials. We have a roadside memorial in the form of a floral tribute in my community. It is firmly attached by rounds and rounds of sticky tape to the pedestrian button at the traffic lights. It started with a … Read more
I’ve written about grief and bereavement for years, yet I learnt something new at the seminar by Calvary Bereavement Service yesterday. It was a simple distinction, revealed at the Living With Grief seminar I facilitated. In our interview counsellor Adele Elliott explained the variety of approaches counsellors can take, with … Read more
Don’t forget the Living with Grief seminar on Saturday, September 10, 2022. This is open to everybody – although we do ask you to register. (See details below.) I’m the facilitator and it’s been organised by the Calvary Bereavement Counselling Service, Kogarah. Good Grief! has been digging away, learning more … Read more
This article was updated on August 3, 2022. In Debbie Pepin’s case (pictured) the adults got her into trouble for wanting to talk about death. Debbie who lives in Austin, Texas, USA is a speaker, writer, entrepreneur, educator, and advocate for talking openly about and making plans for the one certainty … Read more
Death doulas are becoming increasingly popular in Australia – so what exactly do death doulas do? Because theirs is only an emerging field, roles and what we can expect from people who define themselves as ‘death doulas’ can vary. But what is becoming increasingly clear is that more and more … Read more
This article has been updated on August 4, 2022. Often people come to professional grief work in response to the death of someone they love. But in a strange and horrible reversal of that, Susan Marcuccio’s experience has been the reverse. After establishing a reputation for her work in chaplaincy, … Read more
The Calvary Bereavement Counselling Service, Kogarah, will be running a ‘Living with Grief ‘ seminar for anyone who wants to learn a little more about grief. We’ll share a cup of tea and listen to the seminar sessions in a warm, friendly atmosphere where you can hear a range of … Read more
Recently my article on death etiquette in the age of Instagram appeared in Australia’s Body and Soul. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to share ideas in that forum. Thank you to the team at Body and Soul for running it – and valuing the topic of ‘death etiquette’. I … Read more
This article was updated on 26 July, 2022. The first step to prepare for a good death is to find out more about death. We learn: Next, we prepare for our own end. To do this we: For more discussion about these 11 steps, see:A Good Death – a compassionate … Read more
Jane’s behaviours, which in a palliative care setting would have been seen as the concerns of an elderly person who was about to die, were instead wrongly interpreted as the behaviour of someone being difficult
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