Symposium Summary:

Every human life will come to an end, without exception. And most of us will experience the heartbreaking loss of loved ones before our own death occurs. Even so, many are ill-equipped to talk about end of life matters and lack understanding of how to effectively care for self/others through the phases of death, dying, and bereavement. Symposium speakers will present positive psychology research findings on four end-of-life topics:
1.) Memento Mori: Reflecting on Mortality to Inspire Vitality and Meaning in Life, 2.) Comfort Rituals for the Dying, 3.) Three Ways Relationships Can Help or Harm the Bereaved, and 4.) Connecting with the Bereaved via Condolence Letters - An Opportunity for Positive Impacts

Symposium Presentation 1: Memento Mori: Reflecting on Mortality to Inspire Vitality and Meaning in Life

Presenter: Jodi Wellman

Abstract: The practice of memento mori—acting on the Latin phrase that translates to “remember we must die,” has the profound potential to wake us up and breathe more life into our lives. While focusing on the end of our days may sound more morbid than meaningful, research is clear that the contemplation of death allows us to appreciate the scarcity of the very time we’re looking to make the most of (Kim, Zauberman, & Bettman, 2011; Vail et al. 2012). In a world consumed with expanding the length of our lives, cultivating a more intimate familiarity with death can help us expand the metaphoric width and depth of our lives as well (Yalom, 1980).

Jodi Wellman is a speaker, leadership coach, Assistant Instructor in the Master’s of Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, trainer in the Penn Resilience Program, and founder of Four Thousand Mondays. She will draw from her TEDx talk called How Death Can Bring You Back to Life to share research and practical applications on how our mortality can motivate us to live with more vitality (Wong & Timer, 2011) and meaning (Singh, 2016).  

Kim, K., Zauberman, G., & Bettman, J. (2011). The impact of perceived temporal scarcity of life on temporal distance judgments. Advances in Consumer Research, 39, 255.

Singh, R. R. (2016). Death, contemplation and Schopenhauer. New York, NY: Routledge.

Vail, K. E., Juhl, J., Arndt, J., Vess, M., Routledge, C., & Rutjens, B. T. (2012). When death is good for life: Considering the positive trajectories of terror management. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16(4), 303–329. doi:10.1177/1088868312440046

Wong, P. T. P., & Tomer, A. (2011). Beyond terror and denial: The positive psychology of death acceptance. Death Studies, 35(2), 99–106. doi:10.1080/07481187.2011.535377

Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential psychotherapy. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Symposium Presentation 2: Comfort Rituals for the Dying

Presenter: Jan Stanley

Abstract: While it's true that the moment of death is a dance done alone, rituals can ease this final transition for the one who is dying and for loved ones present (Gordon, 2015; James et al, 2016). Comfort rituals can include cultural or religious traditions held dear by the one dying, or secular rituals designed to reduce anxiety (Anastasi & Newberg, 2008; Brooks et al. 2016), create intimacy and connection (Nusser, L. et al., 2022), contribute to enhanced meaning (Wiseman, H., 2022), and help loved ones begin to process grief (Norton & Gino, 2014; Romanoff, 1998) during this final rite of passage. Jan will include a deep dive into new studies in the psychology of ritual, as well as share her experiences as a celebrant, a Hospice volunteer, and a member of Threshold Choir, who sing for those at end of life. Jan is an Assistant Instructor in the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program at the University of Pennsylvania, a facilitator in the Penn Resilience Program, and a leadership coach in numerous global social impact organizations aimed at worldwide wellbeing. In addition, Jan has worked with leaders from the Fortune 100 to Silicon Valley, the World Bank, NASA, and the State Department, as well as numerous institutions of higher education, often incorporating simple workplace rituals.

Anastazi, M.W., and Newberg, A. B. (2008). A preliminary study of the acute effects of religious ritual on anxiety. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine I4(2), 163-165.

Brooks, A.W., Schroeder, J., Risen, J., Gino, F., Galinsky, A.D., Norton, M.I., and Schweitzer, M.E. (2016). Don’t stop believing: Rituals improve performance by decreasing anxiety, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes I37, 71-85.

Gordon M. Rituals in death and dying: modern medical technologies enter the fray. Rambam Maimonides Med J. 2015 Jan 29;6(1):e0007. doi: 10.5041/RMMJ.10182. PMID: 25717389; PMCID: PMC4327323.

Norton, M.I., and Gino, F. (2014). Rituals alleviate grieving for loved ones, lovers, and lotteries. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General I43(I), 266-272.

Pace, James C.,  Mobley, Tyree S. Rituals at End-of-Life, Nursing Clinics of North America,Volume 51, Issue 3,2016, Pages 471-487, ISSN 0029-6465, ISBN 9780323462617, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnur.2016.05.004.

Nusser, Lisa, Zimprich, Daniel, Wolf, Tabea (2022). Themes of Trust, Identity, Intimacy, and Generativity in Important Autobiographical Memories: Associations with Life Periods and Life Satisfaction. Journal of Personality: 0022-3506, DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12786 

Wiseman, H. (2022). Meaning and Embodiment in Ritual Practice. Zygon, Journal of Religion and Science. Volume57, Issue3 September 2022 Pages 772-796

Symposium Presentation 3: Three Ways Relationships Can Help or Harm the Bereaved

Presenter: Dr. Lucy Hone

Abstract: A growing number of studies indicate the vital importance of social support during bereavement and yet maintaining relationships is frequently cited as one of the biggest challenges facing the bereaved. In this highly practical session, Dr Lucy Hone (adjunct senior fellow at the University of Canterbury and co-founder of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience), shares insights from empirical research, theory and practice regarding three ways relationships can help foster healthy adaptation to loss. She will also share data from her own practice revealing which relationships the bereaved find most challenging.  

Dr. Hone is well-suited to present in this 2023 IPPA symposium; acknowledged for her PhD in 2019 by IPPA for its outstanding contribution to wellbeing science, and as the recipient for IPPA’s Positive Educator Impact (Practitioner) Award in 2021, she is keen to share her depth of knowledge and first hand experience of coping with trauma, challenge and change. Whether it’s delivering training, writing academic articles, books, columns and blogs, creating conferences and online courses, or consulting for NGOs and government agencies, she’s been on a long-term mission to bolster population health by busting myths and bringing the best of science to the masses. The arrival of Covid-19, however, saw her TED talk go viral, transporting her work from New Zealand to the world. Collaborations with the BBC and Insight Timer, and an international publishing deal, swiftly followed.

Originally from London, trained by the thought leaders in the field at the University of Pennsylvania, now adjunct senior fellow at the University of Canterbury and co-founder of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience, Lucy is the author of Resilient Grieving: Finding Strength and Embracing Life After a Loss That Changes Everything, and the Educators’ Guide to Whole-school Wellbeing. Lucy’s depth of knowledge and experience of coping with trauma, challenge and change, has seen her increasingly featured in international media including the Guardian and the Washington Post, the BBC and ABC, Channel News Asia, Swedish Television, The Bolt Report Australia and TVNZ.

Research included in this session: 

Bonanno, G. A. (2019). The other side of sadness: What the new science of bereavement tells us about life after loss. Hachette UK.

Klass, D., Silverman, P. R., & Nickman, S. (2014). Continuing bonds: New understandings of grief. Taylor & Francis.

Calhoun, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (1999). Facilitating posttraumatic growth: A clinician's guide. Routledge.

Dyregrov, K., Kristensen, P., & Dyregrov, A. (2018). A relational perspective on social support between bereaved and their networks after terror: A qualitative study. Global qualitative nursing research, 5, 2333393618792076.

Bisconti, T. L., Bergeman, C. S., & Boker, S. M. (2006). Social support as a predictor of variability: an examination of the adjustment trajectories of recent widows. Psychology and aging, 21(3), 590.

Ong, A. D., & Bergeman, C. S. (2010). The socioemotional basis of resilience in later life. New frontiers in resilient aging: Life-strengths and well-being in late life, 239-257.

Verma, N. (2020). Grief and growth: An appreciative journey. Practitioner, 22(2).

Symposium Presentation 4: Connecting with the Bereaved - An Opportunity for Positive Impacts

Presenter: Sarah François-Poncet

Abstract: The practice of writing meaningful condolence letters provides an unexpected opportunity for multifaceted positive impacts. This opportunity fits squarely in the emerging direction in the field of positive psychology that the coexistence of both negative and positive emotions is critical to well-being (often referred to by scholars as “dialectics”), as developed, inter alia, by Lyuobomirsky, 2008, Layous & Lyubormirsky, 2012, Fredrickson, 2009, Wong, 2011, Kashdan & Biswas-Diener, 2014, Lomas, 2016, Lomas & Ivtsan, 2016 (supporting a “second wave of positive psychology”).

Against this background, many of the elements of positive psychology interventions can be found in this practice:

• Positive outcomes related to the intentional act of expressive writing (Niederhoffer & Pennebaker, 2005; King, 2001), the most well-known example being the gratitude letter (Seligman et al, 2005 and Seligman 2011)

• Opportunity for meaning-making, positive emotions, mindfulness, agency and resilience (Vaillant, 2008; Kashdan & Biswas-Diener, 2014; Yaden, 2020, Nolen-Hoeksema & Davis, 2005; Hill et al, 2014; Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004)

• Focus on character strengths and virtues to console, remember (Niemic, 2019; Peterson & Seligman, 2004) and inspire in one’s own life (Schlegel et al, 2009)

• An exercise in practical wisdom (Schwartz & Sharpe, 2006)

• Development of relationships (McGee, n.d.) and contribution to generativity (McAdams, 2013)

Borasino, S., Morrison, W., Silberman, J., Nelson, R. M., Feudtner, C. (2008). Physicians’ contact with families after the death of pediatric patients: A survey of pediatric critical care practitioners’ beliefs and self-reported practices.  Pediatrics, 122(6). 

Feudtner, C. (2009). The breadth of hopes. New England Journal of Medicine, 361(24), 2306-2307.

Kashdan, T. & Biswas-Diener, R. (2014). The upside of your dark side.  Why being your whole self – not just your “good self” – drives success and fulfillment.  New York, NY: Penguin Random House.

Kentish-Barnes, N., Chevret, S., Champigneulle, B., Thirion, M., Souppart, V., Gilbert, M., …, & Venot, M. (2017). Effect of a condolence letter on grief symptoms among relatives of patients who died in the ICU: A randomized clinical trial. Intensive Care Medicine, 43(4), 473-484. https://doi.org/10.1007\s00134-016-4669-9.  

Lomas, T. (2016).  Positive psychology – the second wave.  The Psychologist, 29, 536-539.

Thrane, S. & Jones, B. (2012).  Communication with families after the death of a child:  A pilot study.  Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 14(1), 6-8.

Wong, T.P. (2011).  Positive Psychology 2.0:  Towards a balanced interactive model of the good life.  Canadian Psychological Association, 52(2), 69-81.

As an executive coach and speaker who divides her time between New York and Paris, Sarah François-Poncet will draw from her Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania (2020, with distinction), her Coaching Certificate from the French business school INSEAD (2022), and +30 years of legal practice to provide research and practical applications of this unique aspect of positive psychology.