Brenda Marshall

Brenda Marshall, Ph.D., CT is a well known executive coach, speaker and founder of the Solacium Group. Her interest in grief work came after the sudden death of her younger brother in 2006. At the time, she was a senior level business consultant at a busy management consultancy. Recognizing the challenges she faced grieving her brother’s death while carrying on in her role, she decided to create a resource to support others. The Solacium Group is the first Canadian consulting firm dedicated to supporting and guiding leaders and their teams after the death of a loved one. Brenda now splits her time between general organizational consulting through FLOW Learning Group, Solacium consulting, and a busy writing and speaking schedule. She is a sought after expert in the field of Adult Sibling Loss and Grief in the Workplace, speaks at international events across North America and consults with professionals and individuals dealing with loss. Her book, Adult Sibling Loss: Stories, Reflections and Ripples, by Routledge Publishing Inc. has received wide praise. Her second book, Sibling Loss Across the Lifespan, by Routledge launched October 2016. Brenda holds a Ph.D. in Adult Education from the University of Toronto, an M.Ed. in Teaching and Learning from Brock University, a BSc. in Psychology and Criminology from the University of Toronto and has advanced training in Solution Focused and Narrative approaches to coaching and counselling. In addition she is a certified thanatologist, a designation held by fewer than 900 practitioners in North America. www.flowlearninggroup.ca

Articles:

Adult Sibling Loss

Dr. Gloria Horsley interviews Dr. Brenda Marshall from Toronto, Canada. A management executive and executive coach, she’s completing her doctorate degree in adult education at the University of Toronto. Adult sibling loss is one of the most disenfranchised of losses. Suddenly, a few years ago, Marshall’s brother died. That was her “last day of normal.” Her world fell apart at that point. When she looked for support from the community, she found nothing for adult siblings—all sibling loss focus was on teens and children. There are many myths about losing a sibling as an adult, starting with the idea that […]

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Adult Sibling Loss with Dr. Brenda Marshall

Dr. Brenda Marshall talks about adult sibling loss with Dr. Heidi Horsley at the 2015 Association for Death Education and Counseling conference. Dr. Marshall entered the field when her younger brother, Brent, died suddenly eight years ago. She found little support for adult siblings, which led her on a path to figuring out why this was and what she could do about it. “A lot of people take their sibling for granted and assume they’re always going to be there,” she says. Especially when siblings are close in age, many people think death won’t touch them. Not only does the […]

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Adult Siblings’ Grief May be Overlooked

Yes, it is dreadful for our parents when our sibling, their child, dies. Horrific actually, made even more so because we know. We see it in their faces and feel it in their words. We know because we may be parents ourselves and the thought of losing one of our children is unfathomable. It’s also awful for our sibling’s spouse and their children. We see and feel it in their faces and wonder how they will survive. And, it is dreadful for us too. We’ve lost our mirror, our confidante, in some cases our anchor and the person we expected to […]

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Father’s Day After the Death of a Brother

“You know that story, Finding Nemo?” my 4-year-old nephew asked.  “That’s a story with a happy ending because he gets to find his daddy.”   It was six days since my brother, my nephew’s father, had died and oh, how my heart broke hearing this simple observation. This will be our 5th Father’s Day without my brother.  On the first one, we planted a tree in his memory.  My nephew, then 5, held up the card he’d made for his dad, said a few words and then hung it on a branch.  It gently fluttered in the wind as we snacked […]

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How Friendships May Change for Bereaved

“Can’t make lunch tomorrow.  We’ll re-schedule,” said the note.  It was short, to the point and oh how it stung. It was nearly 3 months since my brother died, and this lunch with one of my oldest and closest friends was something I’d looked forward to for weeks.  With a brief email, it was cancelled — as were the next two. And so the friendship drifted, and the person who I thought would be my biggest support disappeared from my life. My story is not unique.  I’ve heard it repeated multiple times in different ways over the years.  Those we […]

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