Erin Matthes, health educator with SEARHC in Sitka, came up with the idea for a "grief and bereavement workshop" out of a desire to debunk myths about grief and help lessen stigmas attached to it. Her work, she said, focuses on education and support in the areas of aging, end of life, and grief and bereavement. She is also a licensed professional counselor, and recently earned her certification in Thanatology, or the study of death and bereavement. She said that over the last five or six years her work has really focused on the subject of grief.

She offered a workshop to Brave Heart Volunt...