In 2008, Washington State passed Death with Dignity legislation, allowing terminal patients the right to end their lives. While the voters were decisive in granting this option, there has been little education or exploration of the law’s psychological, existential or even practical processes and implications. Mental health practitioners and health care professionals of all kinds find themselves on the front lines with a public who has limited understanding of a powerful new right.
In the clinical setting, Death with Dignity (DwD) can spark the imagination of both therapist and client; it can also engender fear. What is our responsibility to suffering? What are the practical steps for using DwD? What happens when the family or community is in conflict with a DwD? What about the stigma? Who is responsible for the decision? How do we support loved ones in their grieving – is their grief unusual?
As therapists, we’re trained to go into high alert when someone in our practice expresses the wish to die, activating a process of intervention and evaluation. This workshop is focused on how we can learn to companion the dying – even when the questions they ask and options they consider challenge our own professional, spiritual and relational limits.
Infused throughout this workshop are the unique insights, perspectives and analysis of the presenter, a therapist and writer who experienced Death with Dignity with her husband in 2011. Workshop participants can expect an intimate and compelling first-person narrative, whole group discussion, small group work and individual reflection about this complex topic.
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