How To Help People Feel Better When They’re Hurting
(Room Lanier Grand Ballroom G)
26 Aug 21
6:00 PM
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7:15 PM
Tracks:
Speaker (Non-Member)
Have you ever dreaded going to a funeral because you wouldn’t know what to say to the family of the bereaved? Have your friends shared about difficulties and tragedies with you and you only wished you could help them? Or have you, perhaps, been on the other side, overcome with pain of grief and faced with well-meaning people who say platitudes that make you feel even worse! If so, this seminar is for you. Pastor Ryan spends about an hour a week leading worship services, and much of the rest of his time at work is spent visiting the sick and homebound. He meets people in hospital rooms, assisted-living facilities, prisons, and at their hospice beds. He also presides at funerals and graveside ceremonies. He has spent many hours training, apprenticing, and practicing the concrete and practical skills of compassionate caregiving, especially for those in crisis. Ryan is not a psychologist or any other kind of mental health professional; nor will his advice help you become like those wonderful specialists. Instead, Ryan’s advice will help you to be a better friend, a kinder listener, and an individual who is more confident and capable to be in the room with pain. (Despite the speaker’s occupation and credentials, this is not a religious talk; the Bible will not be referenced or relied upon as a source, nor will the practical advice given be rooted in the theology of Christianity or any faith.) Time will be left after the initial talk for a Q&A.