The presenter will chanllenge assumptions about death and dying.

FARMINGTON – Western Maine Palliative Care and Hospice Coalition announces an upcoming conference featuring internationally known presenter Lorraine Hedtke.

The conference, titled “Remembered Lives – Conversations with the Dying and Bereaved,” will be held in the newly completed Bass Room at Franklin Memorial Hospital Friday, Oct. 17, and Saturday, Oct. 18. This conference is open to all community members interested in understanding death and grief.

Hedtke’s approach to working with the dying and bereaved is a departure from standard theories of grief. This conference will challenge commonly held assumptions around death and dying. Hedtke will invite participants to consider the concept of remembering, a life-affirming practice that honors those who have died and comforts the bereaved. “My belief is that when a person dies, a relationship does not die,” said Hedtke.

“When we experience death not as a finality but as an invitation to a new relationship with our dying loved one, we are breaking from a modernist approach that dictates we must ‘get over’ our grief and ‘move on in life.’ In spite of what we are taught about how a bereaved person should behave and grieve, ‘letting go’ may even be a harmful pathway,” she said.

Hedtke will propose an alternative approach, one that considers the possibility of developing relational and personal stories that live on long after physical death.

The conference will be offered in three components. Friday’s program will begin at 8:30 a.m. and will continue until 4 p.m. Friday’s lunch is included in the cost of the conference.

Saturday’s morning session, beginning at 9 a.m., is a practice-based continuation of Friday’s teaching and is open to conference participants who attended Friday’s program. The Saturday afternoon workshop, beginning at 1 p.m., includes a brief overview of Hedtke’s approach and an introduction to her concept of storytelling with the dying and bereaved.

Conference participants may attend any or all segments of the conference. Certificates of attendance are available.

Hedtke has been in private practice since 1986 in Arizona. She teaches nationally and internationally about narrative therapy and death, dying and bereavement. Her professional articles have appeared in numerous journals and newspapers. She is the author, along with John Winslade, of the upcoming book, “Remembering Lives: Conversations with the Dying and Bereaved.”

This conference is sponsored by Western Maine Palliative Care and Hospice Coalition, Franklin Memorial Hospital, Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, Community Concepts and Western Maine Community Action. Free transportation is available through Community Concepts. For more information or to register, contact Judy Barker at 778-0575.