Navigating Dysfunctional Family Dynamics at the End of Life
Imagine if you could wave a magic wand and feel at peace with your family members death, how would your life change?
Imagine if the death of your family member could ACTUALLY be a vehicle for greater and deeper healing of life-long wounds
In this course, you will go from feeling overwhelmed by your family as you face the end of life to feeling more calm and resourced as you navigate family dysfunction
Family Dysfunction is as old as time...
Your Host
Nicole Heidbreder
Nicole Heidbreder has spent the last many years as a Hospice nurse, INELDA End of Life Doula Trainer, Certified Grief Guide, Grief Movement Guide, Grief Recovery Specialist, and Clinical Educator for Johns Hopkins Nursing school.
She is also an adult woman who was the child of an alcoholic family and who has walked the journey of death with this dysfunctional family.
This course is designed to foster emotionally, spiritually, and physically resilient people who can navigate the process of dying with greater ease alongside a dysfunctional family.
Drawing on Nicole's extensive experience as a Hospice Nurse, End of Life Doula, INELDA Trainer, Death cafe Host and Grief Educator, you will learn practical tools to help support YOU while navigating the end of life journey within your own unique family dysfunctions. You will also gain skills to buffer against family drama, plus engage in post-traumatic growth.
By the end of this program, you will…
Learn how to communicate in difficult conversations for high-stress end of life situations
Understand Duty of Care vs Dignity of Risk
Have techniques to avoid the trap of triangulation
Begin to break the spell of codependency
Disentangle from enmeshment
Have concrete ways to avoid saviorism and over-giving
Explore personal internal boundaries to tame our outer-child
Honor the wisdom of anxiety
Practice expressing rage when it’s your turn to care, after you were not cared for
Have tools to navigate the ‘other’ dysfunctional family = the medical system
Understand and care more for your nervous system when caretaking
Learn how to step into post-traumatic growth
Come to terms with a lifetime of grief
Have support for mourning childhood trauma
Recognize the healing, life-affirming power of tending to our bodies while engaging with our dysfunctional family
Explore how self-compassion upholds our resilience
Come to terms with the ways in which our family dysfunction affects us
Set and start to maintain empowered boundaries of self love
Explore healing the looping mind through reflection and forgiveness
Developing antidotes to judgment and othering
Aquire practical skills for grounding while engaging with dysregulated people
Come away released from the trap of denial, shame, and isolation that are hallmarks of dysfunctional families.
Join a supportive community who can witness your challenging but sacred journey.
What’s Inside The Course?
This course will start February 22nd, 2024 and runs for six weeks.
Six Weekly 90-minute calls will be on Thursdays @ 2pm EST/11amPST
BONUS Call on April 7th @ 5:30pmPST/8:30pmPST
All Calls will be recorded and available for 6 months to view
In addition to the weekly 90min calls, there will be OPTIONAL prompts for journaling in between calls and some suggestions for researching resources in your area. But no homework or other required watching, listening, reading - you just get to show up!
Week 1
Exploring the Anatomy of Family Dysfunction
We will learn the characteristics and commonalities within family dysfunctions and dive into the ways in which the end of life amplifies it.
Week 2
Narrative Therapy
Engaging in logos-therapy techniques, come prepared to laugh and cry as we share with each other through spoken word and art about the nature of our childhoods and the end of life journey we have been navigating.
Week 3
Communication skills while IN the foxhole of Family Dysfunction
Communication within dysfunctional families is often fraught with denial, blame, and triangulation. This week we will explore strategies for engagement with both your family and the medical system.
Week 4
Practical Steps on Preparing for the End of Life - Bring in the Calvary!
While nothing is a quick fix, there are practical ways in which we can prepare for the end of life within the context of family dysfunctions.
Week 5
Sacred Rage - No Mud, No Lotus
Anger tends to be a quick emotion, whereas rage is a longterm relationship. In this week we will explore the breadth of rage that relates to the end of life, caretaking, and dysfunctional families.
Week 6
Dancing with the Seeds of Sorrow
Mourning is the work of grief. Sorrow can often be a subtle landscape that colors our inner worlds. By exploring the seeds of sorrow we enact true courage in dropping the rock.
Bonus Call
A Rememberance Ceremony
Questions?
Contact Us!