Jane Galbraith

Jane Galbraith has lived in Burlington, Ontario for many years. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing and has worked in the community health care field since 1976. Her work has included dealing with palliative clients and their bereaved families for the past two decades and also has assisted facilitating grief support groups. As well she has presented to the Bereavement Ontario Network annual meeting, the Canadian Hospice and Palliative Care Conference in 2007, conducted a workshop at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in September 2009 and presented to the Ontario Palliative Care Association in 2010 and the Peel Chapter of the HRPAH in 2012. More information about Jane, her book, Grief @Work program and articles can be found at www.boomergrief.com. Jane was a guest on the radio show Healing the Grieving Heart and discussed Facing Loss and Recovery with hosts, Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley. To listen to this show, click on the following link: www.voiceamericapd.com/health/010157/horsley052109.mp3

Articles:

Five Tips For Grievers During the Holidays

The first Christmas without my mother was agony. Actually, the month before was probably worse than the day itself. Because my mother had been sick between December 6 and January 11, I relived the whole month, which included Christmas and New Year’s Day. I tried to do things that I had done with my mother in hopes of making everything “all right”. But of course, it would never be the same. Grief causes physical and emotional pain. Baby Boomers have come to expect instant pain relief in this fast paced society. Unfortunately, Baby Boomers will be facing this chapter in […]

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Overcoming the Message that You Should ‘Hurry Up’ Your Grief

There are many obstacles that impede our ability to heal from grief. Some of these are self-imposed and others are a result of how our society handles this subject. Here are three things to keep in mind while you are grieving: 1. We are bombarded by expressions in our society that encourage us such as “move on,” “get closure,” “life goes on.” None of these expressions acknowledges the pain that is felt at a time of significant loss. If we listen to these phrases, we may feel that if we can’t get back to “normal” quickly, there is something wrong […]

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Creating a ‘Grief Friendly’ Workplace

For many of us, our workmates are like our second family. So it’s crucial that when someone at work suffers a loss, this “second family” is there to help. After my mother died, I don’t think that I was a very good employee. I felt like I couldn’t show my grief at work, that I should act like my “normal” self. That in itself was exhausting. People in the workplace were sympathetic for a short time and then, like the rest of society, they tended to “move on.” In the meantime, I could barely make it through my daily work responsibilities. How could I not make […]

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Grief in the Workplace

The workplace is like your second family to many people. Let’s face it, some people spend more time at work than with their immediate families!! After my mother died I don’t think that I was a very good employee. Of course, I couldn’t show it. You have to try to act like your old “normal” self. That in itself is exhausting. People in the workplace are sympathetic for a short time and then like the rest of society “moves on” and don’t mention anything about it again. In the meantime you feel like the walking wounded getting through your daily […]

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What You Can Do to Help a Grieving Person

By Jane Galbraith — When we are with a grieving person, it’s common to feel helpless, or to not know what to say. We think we might make the situation worse.  Well there ARE things that we can do or say to help those who are grieving. We can help, and not just in little ways. Here are a few points to consider when you are trying to help someone who is grieving: 1. First and very important, talk about the person who has died. It seems that we never want to mention their name. I know it comes from […]

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