“It is the nature of grace always to fill spaces that have been empty.”         
-Goethe

Bereavement Services are provided by our Bereavement Coordinator
Cindy Carlson, MD, MFT.  Scott Buschman Photography

I am a licensed physician, but have not practiced for some time. As an internist, I was constantly struck by the interplay between emotional and physical well-being--the profound impact that illness can have on the emotional lives of both patients and their families and, conversely, the effect that anxiety, depression and the stresses of living can have on one’s physical health. My patients often needed to talk about aspects of their lives that lay behind their symptoms. I knew that, for many, talking was as important to their well-being as any medication that I could prescribe. I loved this aspect of patient care and was greatly frustrated by what little time I could give to it in a medical practice. I made the decision to redirect professionally into counseling/psychotherapy, wanting to work in an area where counseling interfaces with medicine.

Hospice care is a natural interface between the two. I work with patients themselves, family members who are struggling with the stresses of caregiving and impending loss, and bereaved individuals who are grieving a loss that has occurred.

People ask me what I love about my work. It is this. Those who are struggling with great loss find their strengths and rise to the occasion and, in doing so, use their experience of loss in a transformative way--to grow, to find meaning from their loss. There is something noble and honorable in this. It is a privilege to watch it happen.