English
Living with Loss - You're not alone
Goal
'Loss leads to another form of life' (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross)
The EKR-NL, short for the dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation Netherlands, is an organisation that works with volunteers to spread the intellectual legacy of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.
Its basic tenet is that life is a continual flow of experiences from birth until death.
In that view we are constantly connecting, changing, saying goodbye and connecting again.
Learning to cope with this in daily life can help us cope with even greater losses and incorporate those into our daily lives. With unconditional and loving support we can find the power (again) to deal with life's painful experiences.
The symbol of the butterfly is the image of hope for another form of life after a loss.
Origin
'The dying are our teachers' (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross)
The Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. (1926 - 2004) was an internationally acknowledged pioneer and authority in the area of death, dying and bereavement. For over thirty years she gave workshops and lectures on this subject all over the world. Her first book On Death and Dying (1969) played an important role in breaking the taboo on death and bereavement.
Elisabeth initiated the hospice movement in the United States. In the Netherlands the first hospice was sponsored by the EKR-NL, marking the beginning of the hospice movement there.
Volunteers of the EKR-NL do not work directly at bedsides.
Vision
'Everything that throws you out of balance helps to uncover your unfinished business' (Elisabeth Kübler-Ross)
Elisabeth encourages our continued awareness of our unfinished business so that we may heal our thoughts and feelings concerning life, death and dying. Through this vision, non-death-related losses also get the attention they deserve.
The EKR-NL considers the creation of safe havens where healing can take place an important issue.
Activities
* The EKR-Huis. Information Centre
The EKR-House in Zutphen is the information-centre of the EKR-NL.
There is an office, a library, and a conference-room.
Every three months there is a new art exhibition.
Information is available about a variety of foundations
and people that work with EKR-related ideas.
* Companions-in-distress groups. Ontmoetingsgroepen
The purpose of the approximately 35 groups is to enable people to become inspired by EKR-ideas and to share experiences with companions in distress. Group-meetings are on a monthly basis.
* Seminars. Symposia
EKR-NL organises four seminars a year through which people can get acquainted with EKR-work.
* Lectures.
On request, EKR-NL volunteers can provide information, a workshop or a lecture about EKR-work (accompanied by a documentary).
* EKR-Course
The intellectual legacy of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross forms the basis for this course, which is also supplemented with practical suggestions for how to work with unfinished business. It's a three-day course. This course can also on request be given in English
* EKR-Magazine.
EKR-NL has a quarterly magazine, and all of Elisabeth's books are available in Dutch. For the English version see www.elisabethkublerross.com
For internal use there's an electronic newsletter.
* Network
The EKR-NL participates in a network of organisations whose aim is to spread knowledge and to stimulate/organise activities concerning life, death and bereavement, including the Hospice-Movement and Palliative Caretakers as well as the National Bereavement Organisation.
The EKR-NL was the cradle for the Merkawah Foundation for people with near-death experiences.
There is excellent contact with the EKR-House-Arizona and with several European EKR-groups.
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