In this half-day conference, we will explore how to care for another with compassion and empathy at the end of life while tending to our own well being.
One of the most profound gifts a caregiver can provide is companionship for the dying. We live in a death-denying society; the technological successes of the last two hundred years have medicalized the process and driven a persistent pursuit of immortality. We no longer have the kind of intimate relationship with the experience of physical death that has been part of human life for almost all of our evolutionary history. Taking care of someone can be an act of love; it can also be a difficult and isolating burden. It can be overwhelming and fraught with complex emotions of frustration, guilt and sorrow.
In this workshop with Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, and author Koshin Paley Ellison, we will explore how to care for another with compassion and empathy at the end of life while tending to our own well being. How might our attachments and fears reveal themselves to us when we are mindful and open to the reality of the dying process? How might facing what we fear most liberate us to live our lives more fully from moment to moment? What practices, rituals, and shared ceremonies can support a professional’s need to process and grieve after the death of a client?