Speakers Information
Keynote Speaker:
Yvonne Heath
Navigating Life, Grief and Everything in Between -- with Heart, Humour and Humanness!
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In her 27 nursing year career, Yvonne Heath worked in many areas including emergency, chemotherapy, long-term care and hospice.
She became disheartened by our society’s reluctance to talk about, plan and prepare for grief, transitions and end of life and wanted to create change. In 2015 and founded Love Your Life to Death and shares her message with heart and humour.
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She is most passionate about
supporting families, caregivers
and their Compassionate Communities.
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When they are not travelling and speaking- Yvonne and her husband Geordie (pronounced Jordy!) can be found wearing socks and sandals in their happy place in Huntsville, Ontario along with their several pets.
Morning Speakers:
Morning Speakers
Keynote Speaker
Erica Bostwick
B.A. Psychology, B. Ed.
Happy, hurting, & healing at the same time: Supporting Grieving Children & Youth
As Coordinator of Support Groups at The Lighthouse for Grieving Children since 2012, Erica Bostwick has led hundreds of children’s and teens support groups, supported dozens of facilitator volunteers, and developed countless group activities to help children and teens explore and express their experiences in grief with their peers.
She has delivered grief education presentations to daycares, schools, hospices, and is a former presenter at both The Lighthouse Grief Symposium and the Canadian Alliance for Children's Grief symposium. Erica completed the Concurrent Education Program, B.A. Psychology, B. Ed. at Queens University and has obtained certificates in Bereavement Education from the University of Toronto, and in Children’s Grief and Bereavement from Hinks Dellcrest Centre. Erica feels a profound sense of gratitude to the hundreds of grieving children, youth and their caregivers who have shared their stories, struggles and joys with her.
She looks forward to sharing their stories and suggestions with you as we all continually learn how to best support grieving children of all ages.
Jennifer Page
Registered Psychotherapist and Registered Art Therapist
The Art of Grieving: Exploring Loss Through Expressive Arts and Somatic Interventions
Jennifer is a Registered Psychotherapist and Registered Art Therapist who specializes in supporting people of all ages through the use of art, play and creativity.
Past speaking engagements for the PalCare Network have included providing self-care training for hospice volunteers, and delivering workshops entitled, Creating Space: Using Art in Personal Self-Care (Spring Symposium, 2019) and Tiny Teachers: Art Therapy and Children’s Grief (2021). She has also presented at the HPCO Annual Conference (2019) delivering the two-part experiential workshop, Pause: Creative Self-Care Strategies.
Former Art Therapist and Grief and Bereavement Coordinator at Doane House Hospice, Jennifer now works in private practice at a clinic where she is also a Clinical Director and Clinical Supervisor for students and junior therapists. Jennifer is also a Certified Trauma Clinician, an Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapist, and an instructor at the Toronto Art Therapy Institute.
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Aly Bird, Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
Coach/Author
Since her husband’s untimely death, Aly Bird has poured her heart into helping those who feel helpless during an unexpected crisis. Her extensive study of grief psychology and culture, combined with her own devastating first-hand knowledge, led her to create a roadmap for those committed to supporting the bereaved. As a psychotherapist, speaker, and an author, Aly is on a mission to change the way we show up for grieving people in our culture.
Aly Bird is a coach and author with a BA from Carleton University and MSc in Social Planning from the University of Toronto. She is a member of Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, the Bereavement Ontario Network, and Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.
Learn more at www.alybird.com. Or find her on social media @thealybird.
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Afternoon Speakers
Aly Bird
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) Coach/Author
Definitely Not Normal: Helping Statistical Outliers (usually young adults) after the Death of an Incredibly Important Person.
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Since her husband’s untimely death, Aly Bird has poured her heart into helping those who feel helpless during an unexpected crisis. Her extensive study of grief psychology and culture, combined with her own devastating first-hand knowledge, led her to create a roadmap for those committed to supporting the bereaved. As a psychotherapist, speaker, and an author, Aly is on a mission to change the way we show up for grieving people in our culture.
Aly Bird is a coach and author with a BA from Carleton University and MSc in Social Planning from the University of Toronto. She is a member of Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, the Bereavement Ontario Network, and Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.
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Learn more at www.alybird.com. Or find her on social media @thealybird.
Sarah Feiner
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Anger & Contemplative Expression: Strategies for Children, Youth & Adults
As mother of three teen boys, her family has many conversations about death and dying. The sudden death of her best friend’s six-year-old daughter was impactful, leading Sarah to take the Death, Dying & Bereavement program at Wilfred Laurier University, which lead to volunteering in the area of grief.
Sarah is a volunteer group facilitator for Doane House Hospice, offering support for those with a life-limiting illness, those who are caregivers, and those who are bereaved. Her program includes mindfulness, facilitated discussion, plant teachings through mixed-Indigenous lens, and psycho-educational components about grief.
Her community outreach has included topics around anticipatory grief, life-limiting illnesses, conversations with children & teens about funerals, ceremony and grief. As well talking about sudden death, accompanied graveside visits and creating memorial planters.
Sarah has found a lot of enrichment in serving the community, and in sharing the journey with others.
Panel
Facilitated by Juliet Irish
Aly Bird
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) Coach/Author
Aly Bird is a coach and author with a BA from Carleton University and MSc in Social Planning from the University of Toronto. She is a member of Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association, the Bereavement Ontario Network, and Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario.
Learn more at www.alybird.com. Or find her on social media @thealybird.
Jennifer Page
Registered Psychotherapist and Registered Art Therapist
Jennifer is a Registered Psychotherapist and Registered Art Therapist who specializes in supporting people of all ages through the use of art, play and creativity. Former Art Therapist and Grief and Bereavement Coordinator at Doane House Hospice, Jennifer now works in private practice at a clinic where she is also a Clinical Director and Clinical Supervisor for students and junior therapists. Jennifer is also a Certified Trauma Clinician, an Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapist, and an instructor at the Toronto Art Therapy Institute
Dr Katie Mulhern
MD
Dr Mulhern completed her MD at McMaster University in Hamilton, ON. She then went on to complete her family medicine residency through McMaster University at the Kitchener Waterloo campus. She has a fellowship in Care of the Elderly which is a big passion of hers in addition to a certificate of added competency through the College of Family Physicians of Canada in Palliative Care. She has worked at Southlake Regional Health Centre since 2013 in the Division of Palliative Medicine.
She is the current Medical Director of Margaret Bahen Hospice in Newmarket, ON. She is also an active lecturer with the University of Toronto and enjoys teaching medical students and resident physicians.
Kate Philips
MSW, RWS
Kate Phillips is a School Social Worker at the York Region District School Board where she takes a holistic approach to supporting student health and well-being. She is currently seconded to the Board’s Central Mental Health Team where she is supporting the implementation of its Mental Health and Addiction Strategy. Kate graduated with a Masters of Social Work from the University of Toronto and completed post-graduate studies in addiction and mental health at Humber College.
She has previously worked as a client support worker in adult addictions services as well as a therapist in child and adolescent mental health. Kate is passionate about children, youth and the communities that