The relationships we have with our pets has changed over the past several decades. The attachment we share with our pets has elevated their position to where they are often considered a valued member of the family. In this episode we speak with Lianna Titcombe, Palliative Veterinarian and Melanie Salvage, Registered Social Worker specializing in pet loss.

Lianna and Melanie are both pioneers in their respective fields. Lianna specializes in supporting her patients to have a pain and symptom free death surrounded by loving family in the familiarity of their home environment (and she also educates other veterinarians to provide this care). Melanie specializes in supporting grieving individuals and families during the palliative and grief process when a beloved pet dies. They bring insight and compassion into understanding why the palliative journey and death of our pets can be such a deep experience of grief and loss.

Please have a listen or send to a friend whose life has been changed and enriched through a relationship with a pet. If having a pet isn't part of your world, you may still want to listen as it may increase your understanding of others grieving the death of a pet.

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We are honoured to be speaking with Dr. Sheldon Solomon, one of the founders of Terror Management Theory (TMT). TMT suggests that the dawning of the awareness of our own existence is quickly followed by the awareness of our eventual and inevitable demise. This awareness of being alive and knowing it, creates a state of awe and wonder. Conversely, the awareness of our mortality also causes us to experience dread, anxiety and terror. TMT suggests that we use culture as a buffer to soothe and protect from our death anxiety.

But what happens to the buffering effect of our cultural worldview when we are challenged by reminders of our mortality? How does it inform our actions and attitudes, our conscious and unconscious behaviour? To answer these questions, Sheldon explains TMT and walks us through the decades of research from colleagues around the world. He also paves the way and gives a nod to where the future of his research is headed.

In a style that is both humorous and academically serious, and with a command of the English language this is uniquely Sheldon's, this episode is rich and dense with information. You may need to listen more than once... but it's worth it!

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The death of a child is a traumatic event for any parent and a death by suicide carries its own unique challenges. As Sharon MacLeod shares her story, we hear a difficult journey of a family’s struggle to support, manage and seek help for their exceptional yet complex son Alexander. We are honoured to have Sharon join us and thank her for her openness and courage. We hope this recording honours Alexander’s life; as David Kennedy often says, a person should be remembered for their life in its entirety and not for just how they died. May Sharon's story also serve and support others who travel these hard roads.

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