Speaking
Speaking on grief, abuse and moving forward
Chaplain Barbel Wray speaks to your group about grief, moving forward from abuse and more, locally or on Zoom, for adults, teens and children ages 6 and up.
Chapter 01
A room full of people carrying something unspoken
Most groups already have someone sitting in them who has lost a person, a pet, a marriage or a sense of safety. A talk on grief gives the whole room permission to stop pretending otherwise.
Barb speaks to your group about grief, moving forward from abuse and more. She speaks locally, or on Zoom if your group is somewhere else. Groups are generally gathered by age, and she can speak with adults, teens, and children ages 6 and up about grief, divorce and changes in their family.
The basic format is a Grief Recovery open session of roughly one to one and three-quarter hours, with a question period if you want one. She works around your group's schedule, such as a lunch period, and can come to your office, facility, veterinary clinic, boardroom or wherever you meet.
Rows of empty chairs facing the front of a quiet wooden hall
The topics Barb speaks on
Grief and loss, for particular people: Grief Recovery sessions for specific groups defined by age or interest; supporting children with loss; helping parents and those who work with children; pet loss for veterinarians and their staff; support for first responders such as police and firefighters, and for veterans; and supporting those left behind after a suicide.
Trauma, faith and mental health: healing trauma and faith in others and in God, or a Higher Power; suicide prevention and the signs to watch for; and support and education about mental illness, including anxiety, depression, PTSD and burn-out.
Relationships and starting again: boundaries in tough and impossible, narcissistic relationships; the message that abuse, verbal or physical, is never okay; and the reminder that there is life after trauma and life after divorce. All of it points toward looking to the future and new dreams.
Chapter 03
Hear her voice before you book
Barb is also available for podcasts, radio interviews and online events. If you would like to hear how she talks about grief before you invite her, two interviews are public.
Dr. Melanie Beahm interviewed her on Grief Talks Hope Answers, in the episode "The Unfinished Things That Keep us Stuck in Grief." Jessica Ann Frasier, LPC, interviewed her about Grief Recovery, intellectual comments and safe people: the things people say to grievers that are not helpful, and who our safe people are. Barb explains there that grief is the result of anything that breaks our hearts.
Her message holds across all of it: however we feel is okay, and it is what we do with our feelings that matters. Without tools and support, most people just go in circles and do not move forward.
Chaplain Barbel Wray has led Grief Recovery Method® classes since 2004 and has been interviewed on Grief Talks Hope Answers by Dr. Melanie Beahm.
If one talk is not quite enough
Barb also leads memorial and funeral services in the Okanagan Valley, in person or online.
Grief is love unfinished, and there are no stages to get through. Start here.
One-on-one, online, weekly, for anyone who wants more than a single session.