b'PAID ADVERTISEMENTLOCAL START, EXPANDING REACH End-of-life optionsThe late Marilyn Beckwith started the Grief Group in 1990. Beckwith was a therapist with a practice in Nevada City, andSubmitted by Dr. Janet Windz, Ph.D, FNPwas blind. The trigger for starting the program was BeckwithsF or many of us as we age, thoughts about maintaining our husband: They married,personhood through end-of-life become increasingly important. thenhediedsuddenly.Many of us do not fear death but fear the dying process. Most of They used the flowersus have concerns about losing our independence and quality of life. fromtheweddingatFew of us want to linger in a vegetative state. None of us wants to the funeral, says Smith,suffer at end-of-life. Fortunately, this can be avoided. who heard Beckwith tellMedical Aid in Dying allows terminally ill individuals to end this story. their lives humanely and on their own terms. Medical Aid in Devastated,BeckwithDying (MAID) has been legal in California since passage of the heard the same unhelpfulEnd-of-life Options Act in October 2015. It allows persons with tropes we all hear whena terminal illness to choose the administration of medications griefcrashesoverus:Itwhich allow them to pass away in a peaceful and painless manner. washistime.ShesinaOften individuals requesting MAID are already receiving hospice betterplace.Youllgetservices. However, that is not a requirement for receiving end-of-over it. Buck up. life medication. She finally foundMarilyn Beckwith For persons who may not have an official terminal diagnosis, resources, including aanother option exists: Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking grief recovery program in the San Francisco Bay Area. She(VSED). This is when an individual chooses to cease food and realized that she could do that herself, so she created the grieffluids and allow themselves to pass away naturally via this process. group here in Nevada County, Smith says. Support during VSED is important and it is best done under the The success of those who have gone through the programsupervision of a medical professional. has inspired Mora, a social worker who came to the groupFor more information give us a call. Another excellent local when her brother died, to push for its adoption in otherresource is Full Circle Living and Dying. Also, Compassion and settings. The emotional skills participants learn can help as theChoices is an excellent organization with a very informative website.nation confronts the mental health crisis made worse by the pandemic, she says.Davidson came to the group after his wife dieda decade ago. Since becoming a facilitator, he has pursued additional certification in grief counseling and now has a private practice. My soul mission is to meet people in the pain of their losses, use grief to help them transform their lives, to live in more love and less pain.In this latest phase of the coronavirus pandemic, 50-plus residents have a special role to play. I would invite our older residents to be part of the solution, to learn about grief and to be open to helping with the rebuilding of our society, Mora says.We need their wisdom. We need their experience. With over 50 years of medical and psychology experience, Dr. Jan offers specialities in:3 RULES OF LOSS AND GRIEF Holistic Primary CareLoss is cumulative and persistent.Medical CoachingAnger can be a default emotion for men, andsadness can be a default emotion for women. Integrative Psychiatry Both can cover up other feelings. Services and Management At angers root, often, lies fear.End-of-Life Services For more information or to make an appointment, RESOURCES FOR LOSS AND GRIEF contact Dr. Jan or Stephen Banister, MD:Healing Through Loss and Grief Support Group BanisterHolisticMedicine.comFREED.org/services/peer-support/Grief-Group stephenbanister77@gmail.com(530) 477-3333 (530) 277-1347Certified grief recovery educator John R. DavidsonGoodGriefHealing.net(530) 277-13772022-2023 Western Nevada County Edition SENIOR DIRECTORY 11'