Living in the Village of Grief: Learning to understand my grief

ISBN-13: 9783757828950 / Angielski

Axel Schwaigert; Mary Smail

O autorze

Rev. Dr. Axel SchwaigertReverend Doctor Axel Schwaigert; Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg (Germany), received his Diplom in Evangelische Theologie (Diploma in Protestant Theology) from the School of Theological Studies at Tübingen (Germany) and studied inter-religious dialogue at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. He began his pastoral training in 1998 at MCC Bournemouth (UK). In 2000 he launched the new Salz der Erde MCC Stuttgart (Germany) during Gay Pride. After 10 years of building this new congregation in surroundings not familiar with independent churches, Axel went on to earn his Doctor of Ministry degree at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA (USA). His thesis was on "Communual Grief in Relationship to HIV/AIDS"In his secular life, Axel works as a funeral director. He loves singing, dancing, and acting on stage in musicals, which he sometimes dares at a community theater of the US Forces in Stuttgart. Mary Smail I trained as a Sesame Drama and Movement Therapy in 1990 and used movement, story, and imagination for ten years to help people become more themselves. Examples where I worked as a Dramatherapist include:Children survivors of abuse (St Christopher's Fellowship)Adults with Learning Difficulties (NHS)Adults in mental health care (Chapel Orchard Centre)Elders in residential and daycare (Roundabout)One to one Dramatherapy with adults (Private Practice)In 2006, after completing a counselling course at the Westminster Pastoral Foundation, I trained with Re-Vision www.re-vision.org.uk/ and graduated as a psychotherapist. I am a Scot with strong ties to Ireland and all things Celtic. The way that people come to life, even in the direst of situations, inspires me, along with a deep belief that however hard a situation appears, something new will eventually emerge. I am a singer, songwriter, and storyteller and have lifelong experience using the folk arts within spiritual contexts. Dear, to my heart has been the place of the folk arts in liturgy within the Christian church. My present special area of interest is to explore areas of creativity with people in the last stages of life, with Alzheimer's, or in a bereavement process. In addition, I have two black cats and a sunken garden, full of flowers.