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Rachelle brought grief and bereavement out of the shadows, and into living for me. She unburdened the secrecy, fear and stigma about death. Instead, I learnt to cradle it with understanding, acceptance and compassion. And as a result, I can breathe, I can ‘be’ with it all and I can move forward, forever changed, but alive with all I feel and experience.

Through her lens of equity, accessibility and inclusion I came to access this understanding and compassion for equity deserving communities. I feel I have had the blinders of capitalism, sexism, racism, patriarchy, colonialism etc. lifted and exposed. I have become driven to learn and understand more, and to use my privilege to further justice and equity.

Rachelle helped me become a healthier and more authentic version of my ‘better’ self. I will be forever grateful to have had her in my life.

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Rachelle Bensoussan's extensive work, skill and expertise in grief and loss are a soft place when we find our selves in the harsh world of grief and loss. Having been a participant in Rachelle Bensoussan's two grief literacy trainings, I realized this is grief support and education that has been missing from the field of counseling, the world of academia and the way grief is witnessed. As a social worker in long-term care as well as a human who has experienced much loss the past few years, her work in grief provided information that humanized mourning and discarded the sterile ways grief is often acknowledged with platitudes, stages and pathology. The grief support that I received from Rachelle was tangible in her words, kindness and compassion. Rachelle provides a safe place to bring all questions, emotions, fears, doubts and is a companion in the midst of raw pain and loss.

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