Explore
To learn more about death positivity and how it applies to grief, dying, and more, head to The Order of the Good Death. There you will find a plethora of articles, videos, book recommendations and podcasts on various topics that may be of interest to you.
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Founded by Caitlin Doughty the mortician, funeral director, advocate and creative behind the YouTube page “Ask A Mortician”, this resource has become the foundation for a significant amount of modern death positivity activism.
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On this page you will find:
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Resources on Queen's Campus
Student Wellness offers self-guided wellness tools and services, professional counsellors, referrals to specialized care and countless workshops. Some of these are aimed at mental health in general, while others are more grief focused. Through Student Wellness, you may be able to receive a specialist referral to a grief counselor. Mental health support can be accessed through EmpowerMe, a 24/7 mental health and wellness online support system that can set you up with a therapist or can be called for crisis support.
To meet with Interfaith Chaplain, Erin Burns, or someone else from Faith and Spiritual Life you need not be a member of any specific faith (or any faith at all). There is no pressure or expectation, Faith and Spiritual Life can arrange for you to meet with someone just to talk about whatever you are thinking or feeling in this time of grief. Faith and Spiritual Life is also responsible for the memorial trees present on campus, dedicated to students who have passed away while at Queen’s; most of which are located at Summer Hill.
Good Mourning is the first (and only) grief-related club on the Queen’s campus, which runs monthly book-club meetings to have conversations about grief in the context of these books. However, you don’t have to read these books to join the club and attend the meetings. The importance of finding a space in which you truly feel heard, on the topic of your loss (or loss in general) cannot be overstated.
Yellow House is a space that exists on the Queen’s campus to support and uplift the voices of QTBIPoC students, allowing them to find a safe community. For QTBIPoC students, grief can come with additional difficulties, traumas and complex feelings, it may be beneficial to find support with a group of students who can relate to your background and your circumstances to help guide you within your grief.
Resources in Kingston
Bereaved Families of Ontario – Kingston Branch
The goal of Bereaved Families of Ontario is to provide programs, services and resources based on a mutual support model to individuals, families, children, groups and communities. Founded by four grieving mothers, BFO offers support from people who understand grief and have experienced all forms of loss and grief. BFO – Kingston Region offers both group and one-to-one peer support with phone conversations, video conferencing or in-person.
Grief and bereavement support from Hospice Kingston provides an opportunity for individuals to learn how to identify and process their emotions and facilitates the development of healthy coping skills. Bereavement support volunteers offer one-to-one support for 6-8 sessions and a seven-week bereavement support group, which runs several times throughout the year. Support is offered in a non-judgmental and caring environment.
James Reid Funeral Home offers conversations and activities focused on life, death and dying on the first Monday of each month. Some of these can include death cafés, pre-planning workshops, paint nights, book nights and estate concerns workshops, to name a few. Additionally, they offer one-to-one bereavement support and walking groups to allow for safe spaces to talk about thoughts and feelings in relation to grief.
Resources in Canada
Talk Suicide Canada offers crisis support to anyone who is feeling suicidal and needs someone to talk to urgently. They also offer advice for those who think someone they know might be suicidal which includes information about how they may talk, how they behave and what you can do to help. If you are feeling suicidal or contemplating suicide, please reach out to Talk Suicide Canada by calling 1-833-456-4566 or texting 45645.
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Canadian Virtual Hospice offers a variety of information that relates to advanced illness and palliative care which includes symptoms & health concerns, decision making, final days, communication and providing care, to name a few. They also offer discussion forums for those seeking a community as a form of grief support along with a contact page for people to send in questions to professionals such as doctors, clinical nurse specialists, social workers, pharmacists and spiritual care advisors.
MyGrief, an offshoot of Canadian Virtual Hospice, offers helpful information and modules that allow you to work with your grief at your own pace using “real life” stories and experiences. Module content includes topics such as grieving before the loss, understanding grief, moving through grief, making sense of intense emotions, caring for yourself and more. There are additional groups of modules focused on more specific topics like suicide, infant/pregnancy loss, partner loss, sibling loss, among others.
Hospice palliative care aims to relieve suffering and improve the quality of life for those living with a life-limiting illness and their families. This form of care addresses the specific physical, physiological, social, spiritual and practical ailments by supporting the hopes and needs of the individual. The main goal of this form of care is to manage symptoms and pain in a personal manner with care plans specifically designed to fit the requests of the patient.