Williamson Memorial Funeral Home & Cremation Services is sponsoring two free events later this month to support those mourning and in the grieving process.
Understanding Your Grief: Touchstones for Hope and Healing will be a program for grieving families on May 25 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at The Factory at Franklin. On May 26, The Art of “Companioning” the Mourner: Caring Versus Curing, an informative workshop for those who wish to support people experiencing grief, will take place from 8:30-11:30 a.m. at the same location.
Both events are presented by Dr. Alan Wolfelt.
According to a press release by Williamson Memorial, Wolfelt has been recognized as one of North America’s leading death educators and grief counselors. He founded the Center for Loss in 1984 to offer education and support to grievers and bereavement caregivers. He regularly speaks on grief-related topics, provides training for caregivers and has written books and other resources on grief. His books have sold more than a million copies worldwide.
The goals for the Understand Grief program are that those in attendance “will be able to embrace the uniqueness of your grief, quietly reflect on your feelings of loss, learn about the six essential needs we all have when someone dies and to come to understand the difference between ‘reconciling’ your grief and ‘resolving’ your grief,’” a press release from Williamson Memorial reads.
The mourning workshop will teach Wolfelt’s “companioning” model of grief care.
“There will be a recognition of how grief and mourning are normal and necessary experiences that are fundamentally a journey of the heart and soul,” the press release reads. “A critical distinction between caring versus curing will be outlined. You will go away with a wealth of knowledge surrounding the transformative nature of grief.”
Other objectives of the workshop include advocating for the “slow grief” movement, exploring “complicated” grief, incorporating the universal needs of mourning into the caregiving process and dispelling inappropriate socio-cultural assumptions about grief.
“Grief is like a tsunami,” said Williamson Memorial Funeral Director Pam Stephens. “You never know when it’s going to hit you. You could be sitting around, and all of a sudden, you think of your loved one and start crying whether [the death] was 10 years ago or just recently. … We, as the Williamson Memorial staff, think this is a remarkable opportunity to have Dr. Wolfelt in town and to have him speak to the community. As funeral directors, we do the best we can helping, but this is another higher level of being able to listen to ideas on how to handle grief.”
Both events are free to attend. Call 615-794-2289 to register.
