COCHRANE— The Town of Cochrane’s Social Recovery Task Force is kicking off the new year with a speaker series geared on educating residents about grief and loss.
Typically, we view grief and loss as things related to death and dying, but the pandemic has broadened the ways in which those emotions are experienced, said Cochrane Family and Community Support Services manager Kim Krawec.
“The Task Force put together two surveys right after we were initially implemented to help us understand the needs of residents as well as the needs of organizations. One of the things that we heard loud and clear is that people are experiencing loss and huge amounts of grief in a whole variety of different ways,” Krawec said. “It’s not just about losing a loved one necessarily, it’s about losing freedoms, connection, social supports.”
To discuss this topic the Town has contacted renowned psychologist Dr. Jody Carrington.
Carrington has a 15-year long career in the field of psychology, specializing in treating topics related to relationships, connection, trauma, grief and loss.
The results of the second Social Recovery Task Force survey, which closed on Dec. 17, indicated the topic of grief and loss as a priority that needs to be addressed.
Krawec said that she hopes the main takeaways from the speaker series are that people understand that they’re not alone in how they feel, and she hopes that discussing the feelings the Task Force has seen commonly indicated in the surveys will help normalize them.
She added the Task Force is hoping to provide some strategies on how to move forward positively and constructively.
“That positivity is huge and we all have the power to make those shifts,” she said.
The event will be broadcast virtually on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. and will be free to attend.
To tune in, visit facebook.com/CochraneProgramsActivitiesOpportunities/.
