Clearwater Students are Visited by Marty Wingate, Family Services Counselor at a Local Funeral Home

It’s not always easy to talk about death and dying. Awkwardness, embarrassment and/or fear means we tend to shy away from the subject. But it is sometimes surprising to learn how little we understand it until we hear from someone who deals with the grief-stricken every day.  Marty Wingate, Family Services Counselor at Anderson-McQueen Funeral Home, spoke on this subject at the Clearwater campus.  His talk focused primarily on the “The Mourner’s Bill of Rights” by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D., the founder of the Center for Loss and Life Transition. With an audience comprised mostly of students in allied health fields, Wingate pointed out that healthcare professionals will inevitably encounter family members and friends who have lost a loved one.  And of course, we will all experience loss ourselves, in our own lives. Wingate told students that grief is a process, not an event. And that among the mourner’s “rights” are the right to talk about feelings, but also the right to be silent.  He stressed that familiarity with the 10 “Mourner’s Bill of Rights” can serve as a resource when dealing with caregivers, grieving people, and those who want to help someone who has experienced a loss.  Following his presentation, Wingate invited students’ questions on any aspect of the funeral industry and the services offered through his and other companies.