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End-of-life conversations

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

2020-04-21T06:39:28-04:00September 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.)

2020-09-12T07:08:35-04:00May 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).

2019-12-29T07:05:24-05:00January 24th, 2018|2 Comments