About NorthernMSW

*All nature photos on this site are taken by me. Photography of nature is an interest of mine, also purple is my all time favourite colour!!*- Vikki Brewster

Educator: Loss & Grief Coach

• Older Adults (seniors) are often misunderstood and under-appreciated. We will all be ‘older’ one day and as such, society needs to realize that change needs to happen now.
• Improvements in healthcare, improvements that allow seniors to ‘age in place’ along with better health care system access than what we currently have worldwide, are needed. The helping professions can be a part of this.
• Discussions related to Death, Dying, and End-of-Life need to occur between family members and professionals, and in the general population to make the topic less taboo and fearful.
• Professionals need to receive training and continue to update their skills. Death, dying, loss, and grief are not areas that everyone is comfortable and at ease in.
• Professionals need to attend or participate in webinars, staff developments, certification programs that focus on death, dying, end of life issues, grief and loss, along with receiving ongoing support.

“I have been fortunate to work with older adults for the past 20 years, to know many of my clients for that length of time, and see the issues and challenges that one faces as one ages. This has led to my interest in aging and end-of-life”.

• I completed a certification program: Certified End-of-Life Specialist with: Doing Death Differently to update my skill set, and have joined a network of End of Life/Death Doulas to be connected to a network of incredible, life-changing services, and individuals. It is a way to connect with other professionals, make referrals, share/exchange best practices and come together in a community of those making an impact in the world in the areas of death, dying, grief, and bereavement.
• I co-authored/co-compiled a book “Journey’s End: Death, Dying, and the End of Life,” with Julie Saeger Nierenberg. Julie and I, along with a various contributors (more than 50) created an anthology where we write about death, dying, and end-of-life issues. We examine real-life circumstances, attempting to define and describe them. We discuss ways to deal proactively with end of life and view it from multiple perspectives: personal, professional, and societal. We believe these perspectives will provide valuable insights which can assist one who is in the process of grief or bereavement themselves or who has a family member, friend, colleague or client who has recently died or is currently dying. (See excerpt dated September 16, 2014– teen suicide), Death Midwifery & Home Funerals, and The Perspective of a Hospice Physician.*
• Julie and I are eagerly awaiting the proofs to review for our next 2 books!! We are re-publishing the book above, dividing it into 2 sections and have updated chapters and new chapters included!! Winter/Spring 2021 publication!!

I will also have guest contributors from different professions in the helping and healthcare fields post from time to time. The way we learn and the way change occurs is by sharing, collaborating, and networking.

**Julie and I have already begun work on book 4! We are dividing book 1 into 2 which will be published Summer/Fall of 2021. Book 4, the focus is death, dying, and end of life, but this time from cultural, ethnic, and religious perspectives, with an emphasis on burial rituals, traditions, mourning and grief rituals, societal norms+ Are discussions about death and dying taboo or not? Contact me if interested in participating!**

John W. James, Founder of:  The Grief Recovery Institute said,

“Grief is the most off-limits topic for conversation in the English-speaking Western World.” – Considering the times we are currently in with the COVID-19 virus this has changed out of necessity. People are talking and sharing their grief and loss/losses.

– A reason to get discussions flowing…to be born, we must die. No choice unless you know something I do not! 🙂

“Grief needs time, yes, but it also needs attention and intention.” – Joy Eidse

“Three abstractions: love, time, and death. Love, we all long for it; time, we all want more of it; and death, we fear.”- Collateral Beauty movie

Contact Info.

Lilaccoaching@gmail.com

Vikki Brewster, MSW, CEOLS

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Group Owner- End of Life Discussion Group for Professionals on LinkedIn
Case Manager with Older Adults- 20 years

I can be reached at: www.linkedin.com/in/northernmsw

view my Amazon Author Page.

*Please note I have 25 years of experience with my MSW degree working as a therapist with youth and families for 1.5 years, as an Intensive Case Manager with adults with Mental Health issues for 1 year (in the USA) and for 20 years here in Canada with seniors, 65+.*

“As helping professionals, we should be present, be aware, be respectful, be responsive, be compassionate, and empathic.” – Vikki Brewster

“Death is inevitable, but suffering at the end of life does not have to be.”

“The word listen contains the same letters as the word silent.” –Alfred Brendel

“We are born with arms wide open, and we die in much the same way. It is that which we carry, in the time between, that defines us.” – Dr. Jordan Grumet, MD

NorthernMSW-Copyright 2020