CONTENT WARNING: Death of a child

How can you survive through the struggles of being in this strange world, often isolated and seeing each other through the small window of a computer screen? How can you ensure that your mental health remains a priority when so much about the world is working against you? How can you best support each other and build positive relationships behind masks, through screens and without close physical contact?

So much of this pandemic parallels the world of grief and loss. The death of his son Colin in June of 2018, has led Riley down a path that focuses on mental health and well-being. His own experience as a theatre artist, administrator and critical incident responder for a Calgary arts immersion charter school. These life experiences gave Riley the tools to understand how mental health must be a priority during times of crisis or change. We as a society are experiencing the loss of what we once knew, how we once lived and worked. These changes bring on similar emotions to those experiencing loss and the associated grief responses that occur.

Riley Ohler is the co-founder of a group called Dad's in Grief, a social support group that meets to connect bereaved fathers of kids 0-18. He has also completed the final filming steps of a video that will help recently bereaved families understand what to expect in those early days of loss. He continues to find innovative solutions to social problems while collaborating with the Social Impact Lab in Calgary on numerous social wellbeing projects through innovation, design and disruption. Riley recently completed his Masters of Education at the University of Calgary and is presented at the Central Alberta Teacher Convention as well as the U of C Connecting Research to Practice Conference this February.

This session will NOT be recorded