A Space for Caregivers to be Heard

Date

Feb 25 2025

Time

7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Facilitator: Hui-wen Sato

A Space for Caregivers to be Heard

Description of Workshop: Caregiving can be laden with layers of complicated and sometimes conflicting emotions. While the necessary focus and more obvious grief centers around the care-receiver, the relentless demands and life changes for the caregiver also shape an experience of grief and loss unique to the caregiver’s individual personhood. Loss of “normal” life before illness. Loss of freedom to pursue other goals and interests. Loss of particular qualities that existed in relationships before illness. Loss of purpose after your loved one has died. These losses can often go quietly unrecognized and can leave caregivers feeling unseen.

This workshop will give us an opportunity to learn as a community into the shared understanding of what a caregiver’s grief can feel like.

In the first half of this workshop, we will do a close reading of a simple poem that speaks to the caregiver’s experience and reflect together on our observations of what’s happening in the poem.

In the second half of the workshop, Hui-wen will give participants a very simple writing prompt to bring forth their own stories. The workshop will close with opportunities for any willing participants to read out loud what they have written, and to receive the community’s shared empathy in response.

Participants are under no obligation to read their writings out loud and are more than welcome to simply quietly listen as well. 

 

When: February 25, 7 – 8 PM ET

Where: Online via Zoom

Cost: FREE! Reserve your spot on Pinelawn’s Eventbrite Page

 

Attendee Materials Suggested: N/A

More About Our Presenter:

Hui-wen Sato (pronounced “Way-wen Sah-to”) has worked as a pediatric ICU nurse at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles since 2010. Her passion lies around giving voice to the inner heart experiences of healthcare workers and caregivers and helping them navigate their grief.

She has been published in the American Journal of Nursing (AJN), Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, the Oxford Handbook of Meaningful Work, and The Healer’s Burden: Stories and Poems of Professional Grief. Her 2017 TEDxTalk was promoted to the main TED webpage in 2020, titled “How Grief Helped Me Become a Better Caregiver.” She spoke at the 2023 End Well Annual Symposium, and has been featured in numerous podcasts, including NPR TED Radio Hour and Grief is a Sneaky B!tch.

In 2023, Hui-wen walked through her own personal journey as both patient and caregiver in the same year. After being diagnosed with breast cancer in January and undergoing months of treatment, Hui-wen was barely in the early weeks of remission when her husband suffered a severe spinal cord injury in July. She juggled her own health needs, work as a nurse, parenthood with their two elementary-aged daughters, and her husband’s slow recovery as he relearned how to use his arms and legs again.

This experience only made her more passionate about the tremendous need to care for the hearts of our caregivers.

Web: https://heartofnursing.blog/

Email: hui.sato@gmail.com

**Upon registration, you will be sent a confirmation email. To access the online workshop, it is important to use the Eventbrite reminder emails (one will be sent the day of the event) and log into your Eventbrite account to access the online workshop. Although we use the Zoom platform, Eventbrite emails will grant you access to the Zoom meeting. You will not be sent a Zoom link.**

For questions, contact Christin Alexander, Community Outreach Coordinator, at calexander@pinelawn.com or 631.249.6100 x120.

Disclaimer: The information shared in this program is not intended to act as a substitute for any legal and mental health advice concerning individual situations; neither Pinelawn Memorial Park or COPE, its Board of Directors, staff and personnel shall be responsible for any outcomes arising from any information or exercises provided in this program.

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COPE is a nonprofit grief and healing organization dedicated to helping parents and families living with the loss of a child. COPE offers community support – if you need support, please reach out: 516-832-2673 info@copefoundation.org. For more information, visit www.copefoundation.org

Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboretum is a non-sectarian cemetery prided on creating and maintaining a tranquil and serene environment. With over 500 acres of land featuring flowing fountains, historic monuments, vibrant flowers, and impressive trees, the goal of Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboretum is to surround everyone who visits us in beauty so that we may bring peace even in the most trying of times.

For more information and invitations to Pinelawn’s free, educational events visit www.pinelawn.com/events