Erica Jenson
Arapahoe Community College, Littleton, Colorado
In any profession, be it law or medicine or the funeral service industry, strong ties can make or break your success. But some of the people that we work with in this profession are not people in the fields that we most often think about. Some of the most important members of a community are the men and women who are selfless enough to care for the surviving relatives of the deceased through psychological and emotional means. These people come in many forms, such as the coordinators of supports groups, clergy, social workers or other members of the psychological field. Support networks with other survivors, counselors and the Funeral Director can be very helpful in enabling the families to better cope with their losses.
In researching the bereavement consoling in the funeral service profession, I discovered several web sites that offered information and assistance to the families it served. One of the web sites I was most impressed with was that of Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas Nevada. Palm Mortuary provided grief support through an in-house Chaplain named Mary Bredlau. Mary Bredlau originally worked in hospice care before going on to receive her BA in Sociology from Our Lady of the Lake University in Texas. She then received a MA in Pastoral Ministry from Saint Mary\'s University in Minnesota (Palm Mortuary). This degree contained a great deal of focus on death and dying in relation to religious beliefs and grief services. Mary is a wonderful example of both bereavement support and how the clergy plays an important role in dealing with death in our society.
Another funeral home that I was impressed with is Ertel Funeral Home located in Cortez, Colorado. This web site provided links for families, friends and funeral directors in the areas of grief and support. It was also impressive that this funeral home had specific links to different kinds of death, such as Helping Yourself Heal When a Parent dies? and Helping SIDS Survivors Heal, and even how to cope when a pet dies (Ertel Funeral Home). It is wonderful to see that funeral homes are taking a hands on approach to the comfort and well being of the living as well.
It is my personal goal as a funeral service provider to see that all people affected by a death receive proper emotional care and treatment. We are here to serve the living as well as the deceased. One way to achieve this goal would be to take hands on approach with the bereavement counselors and clergy to ensure that the grieving parties are aware of the many groups, pamphlets, privet sessions, web sites and other online services that are available to them. I also think that it is important for the funeral director to tell the families that they are welcome to call the director or other help line personally anytime they feel they have questions or need extra support. Establishing a one on one bond shows the bereaved that their well being is a genuine concern for the director. I would hope to someday be employed in a home that offers an afterhour’s service program so that friends and relatives can call at any time, day or night. I myself would also like to participate in handling some of the calls or meetings and help in establishing grief programs with the counselors. If the home I was employed at did not already have such a program in place, I would make a genuine effort to encourage the staff, owner or manager to implement such services. I would do my very best to educate myself and the rest of the funeral home staff on the techniques used by the grief counselors and do my best to follow and improve upon these techniques.
References
Palm Mortuary. Data Retrieved August 31, 2007, from www.palmmortuary.com
Ertel Funeral Home. Data Retrieved August 31, 2007, from www.ertelfuneralhome.com
