Companioning the Mourner

Four Thursdays, May 7-28 • 1:00 to 2:30 pm

     Searching for Meaning. Turning Inward.
     Embracing the Wilderness. Deep Sharing.

with Patricia Hunt-Perry, Ph.D. and Rev. Steve Colladay

“It’s a question of balance. We need both, you see. We need to honor the light and the dark, the happy and the sad—and everything in between because all of it belongs. All of it is authentic. And whatever is authentic is normal and necessary. Usually we’re out of balance because we choose to shine our awareness only on the ‘good stuff.’ But right now, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, we’re at risk for the balance tipping too far the other way, in the direction of fear and despair. Yes, in difficult times, we must remember to hope. Yes, the grief journey requires contemplation and turning inward. In other words, it requires depression, anxiety, and loss of control. It requires going to the wilderness.

“What is Mourning? Grief is what you think and feel on the inside, and mourning is when you express that grief outside of yourself. Mourning is grief inside out. Mourning is showing and doing.

“When you cry, you are mourning. When you talk to someone else about the death, you are mourning. When you write in a journal, put together a photo display, or write a thank-you note for a casserole you received, you are mourning.

“We all naturally grieve when someone we love dies, but it’s also essential to mourn. Mourning is how you move toward hope and healing.”

Alan Wolfelt, Center for Loss & Life Transition https://www.centerforloss.com/

To join this class on Zoom, email office@unityalbany.org for the Zoom link, or find it in our email Newsletters if you are subscribed. See the sign-up form on our homepage (bottom right).

Alan Wolfelt, Center for Loss & Life Transition

CLASS HANDOUTS

• Understanding Your Grief – Alan Wolfelt
• THE GRIEF JOURNEY – 10 Steps
• Mourner’s Code – Alan Wolfelt
• 11 Tenets of Caring for the Bereaved – Companioning

That Discomfort You’re Feeling Is Grief

We recommend reading this important interview with David Kessler just published on Harvard Business Review.
Kessler is the world’s foremost expert on grief. He co-wrote with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five Stages of Loss.

https://hbr.org/2020/03/that-discomfort-youre-feeling-is-grief

 

Patricia Hunt Perry, Ph.D (Professor Emeritus of Social Thought) pioneered interdisciplinary course creation teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on grief, death and dying for 30 years at Ramapo College.