Guiding People Toward Meaning and Compassion in Grief
Explore the Seven Language of Sorrow cards, designed to help you recognize, express, and honour grief in your own way.
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The Story of The Cards
About three years ago I was doing some prep work for a grief and loss class I was teaching at Rhodes Wellness College and I had this thought about Gary Chapman’s Five Love Languages he created in 1992. I remembered thinking to myself if love has languages so must its identical twin grief.
I set about doing some research on the grieving clients I had served over the years and I began to notice some different ways folks expressed their grief. There were seven different ‘languages’ folks used and I named them: The Talker, The Writer, The Artist, The Seeker, The Sensitive One, The Seeker, and The Avoider.
So, I added this unique piece of grief work to the grief and loss course I was teaching at Rhodes. It was a bit of a lump of coal, until that is, a couple of my students Jade and Haley turned it into the amazing slides show you can have a look at in the Resource Section of this site.
The next step in the card’s evolution was a client’s wife, an artist, offered her creative art skills in barter for some grief training for her husband. The cards you see at the top of this page are a direct result of her interpretation of these seven languages and they are brilliant!
Next step? Seven Languages of Sorrow cards for Kids!!! Scroll on and thanks for visiting my website!!
The Creator"Grief does not ask to be fixed. It asks to be witnessed, understood, and honoured in its own time."
Stephen L. GarrettA language for Every Grief
Grief Speaks in many ways. The Seven Languages of Sorrow cards help individiuals recognize, understand, and honour the unique ways sorrow is expresses. Both within themselves and in others.
Guiding Meaning and Compassion Through Grief
Stephen Garrett has experienced success in life as a teacher, investment banker, social worker, author, cremationist, Interfaith Minister, executive director of the Memorial Society of BC, grief and loss counsellor for the Campbell River Hospice Society, and in his current role as a trainer for Rhodes Wellness College in Vancouver.
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