What is the Dougy Center? An Interview with Donna Schuurman EdD, FT
Support for children at the Dougy Center in Portland, Oregon
Credit: Dougy Center
For nearly 43 years, The Dougy Center in Portland, OR has provided peer support groups for grieving children, teenagers, young adults and their families. Today, the peer support program they pioneered has served as a model for at least 500 organizations worldwide. Donna Schuurman EdD, FT, who is the Senior Director of Advocacy & Education at Dougy Center, graciously shares her insight with SevenPonds.
Dark Tourism, Necrotourists, and Respecting Sacred Spaces
cemeteries are a popular destination for necrotourists
image credit: Scott Rodgerson for Unsplash
Across the globe and through the centuries, ancient and modern cultures have marked this time of year as one to acknowledge and honor the dead. After all, it is the end of the growing season; the harvest is in, stores are cached away, and people’s thoughts start to turn to the dark, cold winter ahead, when much of the natural world becomes suspended in hibernation.
When all of nature seems bleak and barren, it only makes sense that our thoughts become similarly macabre.
“Demolition” Movie Review: Jean-Marc Vallée’s Portrait of a Widower Leveled by Grief
Jake Gyllenhaal portrays a widower who dismantles his life to process his grief
image credit: https://www.movieinsider.com/posters/296095
“Demolition”, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée, is a quirky dramedy that explores the complex landscape of grief, sudden loss, and emotional reconstruction. The film follows Davis Mitchell, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, a successful investment banker whose life is destroyed when he survives a car crash and his wife doesn’t.
Understanding Swallowing Difficulties at the End of Life
Join SevenPonds each month as Tani Bahti, RN, CT, CHPN, offers practical on-hand guidance to demystify the dying process. As an RN since 1976, Tani has been working to empower families and healthcare professionals to have the best end-of-life experience possible both through education and the development of helpful tools and resources. As the current Director of Pathways, Tani is also the author of “Dying to Know, Straight Talk About Death and Dying,” considered by SevenPonds to be one of the most practical books on the topic. Founder Suzette Sherman says this is, “the book I will have at the bedside of my dying parents some day, hopefully a very long time from now.”
The Sound of a Gunshot
I heard a gunshot and saw him through the dark from my open door
fall to the street.
This is an anonymous story, as told by Aurora Wells about a man’s experience of witnessing a man shot to death. Our “Opening Our Hearts” stories are based on people’s real-life experiences with grief and loss. By sharing these experiences, we hope to help our readers feel less alone in their grief, and ultimately aid them in their healing.
Krishnamurti on How to Live in the Eternal Present
a rustic heart handmade by the SevenPonds team
Who Cares for the Caregivers?: 
Final Messages of the Dying: 
Will I Die in Pain?: 
