Musings on Mortality: To die or not to die? The answer isn't so simple
"To be or not to be, that is the question," Hamlet articulates in Shakespeare's play "Hamlet." We can reword this question for those of...
Thanatology and Poetry: A Conversation Between Deborah Golden Alecson and Thomas Fink
Thomas Fink: The thanatologist Deborah Golden Alecson is the author of Complicated Grief: A Collection of Poems (Finishing Line Press,...
Musings on Mortality: Plan a dignified death on your own terms
Many people have expressed to me their desire for a dignified death for themselves and their loved ones. This is a challenge in a...
Musings on Mortality: It's OK if grief creeps in during holidays
I was recently invited to speak at a Death Cafe in Kingston, N.Y., about grief and the holidays. The Death Cafe is a movement throughout...
Musings on Mortality: Maybe if we celebrated death we wouldn't fear it
Mexicans really know how to have a good time when it comes to death. Their Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, celebrated on Nov. 1...
Musings on Mortality: Death-phobic culture lingers in 'grey zone'
Recently, I experienced what I can only call a parallel universe. I was in a neonatal intensive care unit to visit a mother and her...
Musings on Mortality: Life-or-death decisions in the 'grey zone'
The "life-at-all-costs" mentality that we have in our death-phobic culture applies not only to the elderly, but to newborns as well. Not...
Can We Ever Be Prepared to Die?
Ms. Alecson examines this contemporary and socially relevant discourse. Recorded in Palo Alto, CA on May 27, 2015. #medicalethics...
Taylor & Francis Online: Converting Loss Into Language
Converting Loss Into Language DOI:10.1080/02682621.2014.980990 Deborah Golden Alecson MS Special Education Adjunct Instructor, pages...
Conscious Dying with Deborah Golden Alecson
Hospice Care in the Berkshires Presents "Inside Hospice Care" with host, Jane Salata, speaking with author, thanatologist, poet and...
