End-of-life conversations – Re-Authoring Teaching

July 17, 2022 Collab Salon: Therapeutic Conversations That Explore How A Person Wishes To Die

In this Collab, Sasha discussed some of what she has been learning since the law changed in Aotearoa and facilitated a conversation about narrative practices that might be helpful when a person is contemplating how they want to die. Sasha described some examples of conversations with people who: chose to die through assisted dying, who deteriorate suddenly before the assisted dying assessment process has been completed and with people who change their minds and opt to die with palliative care support only. There was an exchange with participants who had experience in this area of practice.

Peggy Sax2023-12-26T14:27:37-05:00September 18th, 2021|Comments Off

July 19, 2020 Collab Salon: How to live whilst dying? What children and young people with a Life Limiting Illness (LLI), can teach us about living

"Given the current realities of the COVID-19 pandemic the narratives around living and dying, choice and decision making, facing our own mortality, are all more paramount than ever and what is perceived as something that affects others and is ‘rare’ has come very much into everybody’s everyday life. Whilst my work has always focused on children and families I hope the lessons they have taught me will be transferable to many situations and leave everyone with some thoughts to take away and consider both personally and professionally." Dr Claire Cooley, Kent United Kingdom

Peggy Sax2020-08-16T17:07:49-04:00September 20th, 2019|Comments Off

April 19, 2020 Collab Salon: Reflections on practice with people who are suffering

As a counsellor working for hospice, I meet with people who are suffering, sometimes with unsolvable problems, as they live with serious illness and the knowledge of their approaching death. What can these experiences offer to those of us facing suffering in many different contexts during this time of Covid-19 pandemic? Given the current context, this Collab is still evolving. I hope to share some of my reflections on practices that ease suffering. These include thoughts on how we create space for stories of suffering, how we respond to big stories day to day and questioning practices that can be significant in restoring a sense of meaning and agency. I look forward to hearing how you might apply such practices to your own context for work. To facilitate the discussion I will be providing a collaborative document to illustrate some of the narrative practices we will be reflecting on. Sasha Pilkington

Peggy Sax2023-04-16T08:33:29-04:00September 12th, 2019|0 Comments

A Narrative Approach to Therapeutic Conversations at the End of Life

Thank you to all who participated in Sasha Pilkington's workshop! What a terrific gathering! On November 21, 2018 Collab Salon, Sasha will present on Virtue Inquires. Please join us! You do not need to be a Collab Member to register for- and participate in - this Salon. We hope that you will decide to Become a Member (among other benefits, members have 24/7 access to our Library of Past Salons.)

Peggy Sax2020-09-12T07:08:35-04:00May 13th, 2018|0 Comments

November 18, 2018 Collab Salon: Virtue Inquiries at the End of Life

Sasha Pilkington shares a practice she calls “virtue inquiry” that guides her approach to end-of-life conversations. She listens for and elicits the virtues that are valued by the people with whom she’s meeting. Virtue inquires draw on ideas and practices developed by David Epston including “getting to know the person ahead of the problem”, “researching moral character” and “wonderfulness inquiries” with children. They also build from a paper by Eve Lipchik (1988) called “Interviewing with a constructive ear” that had an influence on Sasha's early practice. Virtue inquiries take place with adults or young adults and so flow differently from “wonderfulness inquiries” (see chapter 2 in Marsten, Epston & Markham, 2016).

Peggy Sax2023-04-15T16:54:07-04:00January 24th, 2018|2 Comments