The Vermont Death Collaborative:
A Collaboratory for All Death and Grief Workers
Are you someone who works with those who are dying and/or grieving? Do you feel called deeply to your work as well as to a collaborative space to engage meaningfully with others in the field? Where you can be open about the challenges, questions, and issues you face with people who understand and will not judge. Therapists have supervisors and consultation groups; doctors have practice partners to consult with; teachers have collaborative groups and teams. Many of those who work directly with death and grief (already an isolating field) as doulas, coaches, or specialists are glad not to be regulated in same way that clinical practitioners or public educators are. However, this lack of formality can also keep us from collaborative structures and professional supports that help us to sustain and transform our own work.
Enter The Death Collaborative! Before facilitating grief circles, I spent years training teachers and facilitators. I planned and facilitated professional development for hundreds, yet the work dearest to me was Critical Friends Group work when 7-12 of us would circle up and do deep collaborative work together. Circle work became real for me when I discovered what growth comes from communal and transparent practice in a safe, co-created learning environments. As part of my service with The Grief Center of Vermont, I seek to bring death and grief workers together to deepen, grow, reimagine, and recommit to our work in service to those who grieve and die (all of us!).
We will engage in processes and protocols that support
getting meaningful feedback on our work (materials, approaches, contracts, care plans, etc.)
processing professional dilemmas (while you are in them or “after action reviews” to inform ongoing practice)
deepening and refining professional practice
learning new content (books, articles, media, etc.), skills, and dispositions
greater alignment between core values and outward work
reflecting thoughtfully and critically on vocation, role, capacity, and areas for celebration and growth
building true collegiality and collaboration
sustainability and nurturance in a field often isolated and burning out
We begin this winter or when there is enough interest to form. All are welcome. While the beginning will be strongly facilitated, the process and co-creation will be highly collaborative and we will share facilitation once established. You will have opportunities for feedback and input throughout. We will first focus on equity of voice, aspirational community agreements that model best practices in our field, as well as the active cultivation of an open, supportive, responsive environment for growth we define the measures of success for.