Entering into the holiday season after a death in the family can often be particularly distressing and challenging. Oftentimes, even our closest support persons find themselves helpless in knowing how to support us. Please join us in a special session on creative ways to process and cope with grief and loss, facilitated by Dr. Laurel Hilliker who spoke previously at our parish. She will be accompanied by Judy Plamondon, St. John parishioner and Seasons of Hope grief support group facilitator.
Our speaker, Dr. Laurel Hilliker, received her doctorate in sociology from Michigan State University with a specialization in bereavement. She is the daughter of former parishioner, Anna Nutt, now deceased. Dr. Hilliker holds a Fellow in Thanatology through the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Her current university affiliation is the University of Michigan-Flint, where she teaches public health coursework, including Wellness in the Face of Loss. She is published in scholarly journals and has written for Faith Catholic Magazine. She is the founder of Bearing Loss, Grief Education and Consulting, LLC, providing webinars and talks for the bereaved and for the professionals who work with them. She has recently published her first book, Grief-Stricken, Stories of Altered Loss in a Pandemic Haze through Covenant Books.
The talk will aim to provide coping strategies to help us bear our losses and will include a format that allows for a question-and-answer period. The session will be held on Wednesday, November 8th, 2023 at 10:45 a.m.- 12:15 p.m. We will meet in the Family Center.