Making space for grief, memory, and Meaning

We all are stories; a collection of experiences that have shaped our lives.

Legacy can be defined as the sharing or gifting of something that we leave behind when we die. But legacy is more than this. Legacy is about sharing knowledge and stories, thoughts,  and ideas, pieces of ourselves that we want to pass along to those we love.

Within these stories are the  experiences that shaped us into who we are. It is in these legacy conversations that we begin to learn things like how we find and make  meaning in our lives, when we feel most alive, or what are some of our greatest accomplishments.

Legacy is about prolonging one’s  influence across space and time. It is about creating something that  will reflect you who are and what you lived for. It is a way to  communicate what you have experienced and felt but also what you hope  for others.

Beyond this, research has shown that  people who have engaged in legacy work can experience a continued sense  of purpose and meaning, and it can have an enhanced end of life  experience for people nearing death. Furthermore, it can increase a  personal sense of dignity while also helping a person navigate and  process the reality of dying and leaving their people behind.

The opportunity to participate in the creation of a documentary style legacy package.

Filming your legacy conversation will  allow for the creation of a customized legacy film that can include, but  would not be limited to, the conversation itself, the opportunity to  have your portrait taken in you so choose and, with support from  yourself and your loved ones, to incorporate family photos/home videos  and other personalized video footage beyond the conversation as  appropriate/possible. All these elements will be used to create your  personalized legacy video.

The length of the final film will be  dependent on the length of our conversations, extra materials provided,  and any additional content required.

Where, when, and how long it will take  to film the conversation, itself will greatly depending on your health  and ability at the time of filming. We will do our best to complete the  film in its entirety as quickly as possible. This will ideally be within  a 2–3-week time frame but sooner when possible. Having your  personalized items available (photos, videos, etc.) will help us to stay  within these timelines.

Once you have decided that you want to  engage in this legacy work, we will provide you with a list of questions  that may be asked to get you thinking and reflecting. This may also be a  good time to start looking through photo albums, letters, or any other  documents of significance that you may like included in the final piece.  You may ask for help from your loved ones to narrow down possible  family photos/videos you would like used.

Based on your health, determining the  best location is also an important consideration. All efforts will be  made to film in a location that is comfortable to you but again, we  realize, that given various health conditions, location options may be  limited.

This work is done after the death of  your person and can be conducted over time with your grief therapist.  Some of the first conversations will be spent with you and your grief,  listening to stories about your person and helping facilitate at-home  work to prepare for creating a final piece on behalf of your person.

It is possible that the bulk of this  work can be done in sessions including some editing processes. It is  also possible to do this work virtually using shared screens and cloud  storage for images/videos/documents. 

** For ‘legacy on behalf of…’ work, the  final piece can take on a variety of forms. Examples are: photobooks,  slide shows or even a video piece using home movies and audio that, with  your support, can be edited in a way that captures the essence of your person.

If you live in Ontario, Canada and have benefits that cover the cost of Social Work, the session appointments can be submitted to your insurance provider and should be covered. However, please check with your service provider. 

Please contact me to book a  free 15 minute consulation where we can start to discuss the process, how together we can customize your piece as well as additional fees involved. 

If you have benefits that cover the cost of Social Work, the session appointments can be submitted to your insurance provider. 

Some insurance providers will cover the cost of Document preparation and Plan development and formulation. The editing of your legacy piece will be invoiced under these headings for you to submit to your provider but please note the costs may not be covered. 

Each Legacy Film is unique to the individual and family but based on our experiences we estimate it will take anywhere between 2-6 hours of in-session time which will be billed as therapy sessions. 

These conversations will include: 

• Initial session about the Legacy work / the planning and preparation process.
• The legacy conversation(s) themselves which may be done in one sitting or over the course of multiple sessions.
• Follow up sessions as needed during the editing process.  
• An appointment can be booked to review the piece together if wanted.

Editing time varies again based on the package you have chosen but also the length of the Legacy Conversations. In our experiences for every hour of conversation, it can take 2 to 3+ hours of editing time without the incorporation of additional footage. 

Why? Part of the reason for this is the removal of the therapist's voice, editing out starts/stops, pauses, as well as the reordering of  footage as themes emerge to make a cohesive final film

These conversations can be arranged virtually or in-person. For in-person appointments outside of an 40 km radius from the grief therapist, a travel fee will apply, depending on the distance.

For conversations that seem to require more time or a customized approach, there may be additional costs that can be discussed prior to starting.