Inspiring, Heartfelt, Conversations
with Noted Professionals Exploring End of Life Themes
Over the years I have had the privilege of meeting and working with many amazing individuals who have dedicated their lives in service to others in end-of-life care and other avenues of life.
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It is my honor to offer this series of inspiring, heartfelt conversations with noted professionals for all of you to have the opportunity to listen in and learn from.
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Below is a Sampling of the Rich Conversations in the YouTube Library. To receive notification of new releases please go to the link below and
subscribe to my channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@barbaramorningstar5173/featured
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Lindsey Willis is the Executive Director for the Ridge Meadows Hospice Society in BC, and a senior member of the BC Hospice Palliative Care Association Federation of Fraser Region Hospice Societies. In this conversation we honour the invaluable role of the hospice volunteer and how their presence enhances overall team function and well being.
Rodney Jones is a legendary jazz guitarist. In this conversation we discuss his incredible career as a musician, time as a professor at Julliard in NYC and the sensitive, and unexpected death of his four year old grand-daughter. We honour the gift of music to uplift, transform and heal after profound loss.
In this conversation with Scott Shute we explore the Seasons of Life, Perspective and Compassion through his stunning nature photography. Scott's latest venture, Changing Work, seeks to curate the best practices of conscious business and make them more widely available. He is a former VP at LinkedIn where he was also head of Mindfulness and Compassion programs.
Dr. Richard Harrison is a Registered Psychologist with over 25 years' experience as a clinician and teacher. In this conversation we speak about "exquisite empathy" and his research on twelve protective practices that can help with well being and resiliency for therapists and professionals in end-of-life care.
Dr. Daphne Lobb has practiced palliative care for over 30 years and is a co-founder of the Callanish Society, a non-profit organization based in Vancouver, BC. In this conversation we discuss whole person care, her experience with breast cancer and the importance of supporting healing connections in palliative care.
Bev Foster is the Founder and Executive Director of the Room 217 Foundation, a Canadian health arts social enterprise that uses music to improve the care experience. In this conversation we explore the many ways that music can help us connect and heal at end of life, in bereavement, and through a range of other therapeutic healing modalities.
Betty Davies is the co-founder of Canuck Place, the first free standing hospice for children in North America. In this touching conversation we discuss supporting children with a life threatening illness, their parents and siblings.
Lisa Smartt is a linguist, educator, and poet. She is the author of Words at the Threshold: What We Say When We’re Nearing Death. The book is based on data collected through The Final Words Project, an ongoing study devoted to gathering and interpreting the mysterious language at end of life. In this conversation we explore metaphoric language at end of life and her research on the subject.
Thomas Attig is an author, speaker and applied philosopher. His is known around the world for his research and writings on grief and death education. In this sensitive conversation we discuss how we grieve and relearn the world after a death. .
Rev. David Maginley is a spiritual counselor at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and award-winning author of Beyond Surviving: Cancer and Your Spiritual Journey. In this conversation we discuss spirituality, consciousness, and the invitation to grow in life and love when diagnosed with a life threatening illness like cancer.
Dr. Pippa Hawley founded the Pain & Symptom Management and Palliative Care service at British Columbia’s cancer program in 1997 and remains its medical director. In this conversation we discuss the gift of palliative care when dealing with a life-threatening illness.
Josh Neufeld is a Vancouver, BC based portrait, marketing content and documentary photographer and the founder of Grief Narratives. In this conversation, Josh shares his own personal journey of losing his father to cancer and capturing the images of death, dying and grief through the lens of his camera.
Tara Souch is an experienced wilderness guide and registered clinical counsellor who is passionate about grief education, nature connection and protection. She lives and works on the west coast of Vancouver Island. In this conversation we discuss connecting with nature to heal our grief.
Dr. Heather Mohan is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Lumara Society based in British Columbia. In this conversation we discuss her work with children, teen and family grief through music therapy and the expressive arts.
Dr. Sunita Puri is the Program Director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center & Chan School of Medicine, where she is also an associate professor of clinical medicine. She is truly eloquent with words. In this rich conversation we discuss the use of language in end-of life care.
Dr. John Gray is best known for his relationship book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus. He has written over 20 books and his Mars/Venus series has changed the way men and women view their relationships. In this conversation we discuss opening up to love again after the death of a spouse or significant partner.
Dr. Robert Twycross is the Emeritus Clinical Reader in Palliative Care at Oxford University in the UK. In this conversation we explore the foundational years of hospice care and the development of the pain management protocols.
Joshua Black, PhD, is a grief researcher, speaker, consultant, and host of the Grief Dreams Podcast. In this conversation we explore the value of acknowledging grief dreams and their potential healing capacity.
Dr. Balfour Mount is recognized as the father of palliative care in North America. He was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2018 and is the Eric M. Flanders Emeritus Professor of Palliative Care at McGill University in Montreal. In this conversation we discuss the foundation of palliative care along with his own personal experience with cancer and aging.
Carolyn Saunders is a seasoned palliative care nurse. In this conversation we explore and celebrate the invaluable role nurses play supporting individuals and their families in the final stages of life.
Dr. Karen Wyatt is a former hospice physician, author, and End-of-Life University podcast host. In this conversation, through her inspiring stories, we explore the key themes in her book 7 Lessons for Living from the Dying.
Dr. Bruce Greyson is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He was a co-founder and President of the International Association for Near-Death Studies, and Editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies. In this conversation we discuss his close to 50 years of research on near death experiences and his book After; A Doctor Explores What Near Death Experiences Reveal About Life and Beyond.
Dr. Lauren Daley is a young, dynamic, palliative care physician practicing in Vancouver, BC, Canada. In this conversation we explore life, death and millennial interest to open end of life discussions in new, creative ways within the mainstream. We begin by discussing the painful loss of her mother to a car accident at age six, then move to her work as a palliative doctor and the creation of her web site and podcast “Talk Dying to Me”. It is a goal of Lauren’s to open this important dialogue to people of all ages and remind us of our own mortality in turn enriching our appreciation of the gift of life itself.
As individuals near death, they often report having lucid dreams and visions. These experiences are generally comforting and filled with themes of love and forgiveness. In this conversation Dr. Christopher Kerr and I discuss the incredible research being done at Hospice and Palliative Care in Buffalo, NY. The importance of acknowledging death bed visions and dreams is explored, not only for the well being of the patient but for the family and staff who serve them.
Dr. Shikha Minhas is the Co-Medical Lead for the Palliative Complex Care Unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital in British Columbia Canada. She has been involved in palliative care for 17 years. Her background is rich having grown up and lived on 3 continents, studied, and worked in 4 provinces within Canada. She also speaks four languages. In this conversation we explore diversity in end-of-life care and how to honour an individual’s unique life journey.
Tom Golden has over thirty years of practical, hands-on clinical experience as a counsellor and is well know internationally for his books and presentations on men’s grief. His first book Swallowed by a Snake; The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing helped to open the conversation about men and emotions. In this conversation we dispel many of the myths around the masculine grieving style, why men often express their grief differently and how to better support them.
Dr. Kearney is an internationally noted palliative care physician and pioneer in end of life care. In this conversation we explore burn out, compassion fatigue, moral distress then move into resiliency, healing and “exquisite empathy”. This dialogue will be especially helpful for medical personnel and front-line workers supporting those in death and grief.
Janie Brown is the Executive Director and one of the Co-founders of Callanish, a cancer support centre in Vancouver, BC. We discuss her book Radical Acts of Love, companioning individuals with a life-threatening illness, a “good” death, denial vs. our deep survival instinct and the wisdom of children.