16. Creativity in Grief - Claudia Coenen

Human beings are by nature creative and imaginative. Because
grief is a holistic experience that affects every level of our
being and it requires an outlet, tapping into a creative process
can be extremely cathartic during our grief journey. Creativity
can really help us process our emotions and find a way
through. Be it journaling, drawing, dancing, singing, or
even having a mindful walk in nature, any big or small creative
is valuable.


Claudia Coenen is a certified grief counsellor and thanatologist
with a Masters in Transpersonal Psychology. Her life experience
as a performer, mother, chef and widow informs her work. Claudia
has a private practice in Hudson, NY where she helps people move
through grief, cope with illness, and relationship issues, often
bringing simple art modalities into her sessions.


Claudia leads workshops and talks on the effectiveness of
expressive arts in bereavement and is part of the Virtual Funeral
Collective that produced the informational paper entitled Death,
Grief and Funerals in the Covid Age, a resource guide for
funerals, dying and grief during the pandemic.
(www.covidpaper.org)  While working in a hospice program
with patients and their families, Claudia developed The Karuna
Cards, a deck of creative ideas for grief and difficult life
transitions and is the author of Shattered by Grief: Picking up
the Pieces to become WHOLE again. Her new book, The Creative
Toolkit for Working with Grief and Bereavement: A Practitioners
Guide, was released in print on July 2020. All three are
available for purchase on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble and through
this link:
https://www.jkp.com/usa/catalogsearch/result/?q=claudia+coenen


You can book sessions with Claudia and find out more about The
Karuna Project on www.thekarunaproject.com where there are lots
of information about Claudia's work, her publications and links
to articles as well as videos, podcasts and interviews.


Check out the free online event hosted by Grief
Dialogues on Thursday October 29th 1pm-2pm NZT where
 Claudia Coenen will be a panelist together with Robert
Neimeyer. You can register here:
https://letsreimagine.org/58851/8-am-time-to-talk-about-traumatic-loss


If you would like to get in touch, please visit
www.crazygrief.com and drop me a note. I would really love to
hear from you. And please subscribe, share and rate this show so
I can continue to produce more meaningful conversations about
grief. 


With lots of love, 





Tatiana xo