OnTarget Consulting, Inc.

12/08/2025

"Christmas is not a celebration for everyone. For some Christmas is a time that magnifies their losses, whether that’s through a bereavement, or otherwise. Remember your colleagues might not want to 'celebrate' with the rest of the team or organisation. Try and make celebrations as optional as possible, with no stigma for those who don't wish to attend."

~ Lucy Carpenter

These reflections I hope will bring some comfort to those facing their first Christmas missing a loved one and to those working with and managing people who are grieving this holiday season …

03/21/2025

"Caretaking Through Grief: A Practical Guide for Providers & Families" examines how and where grief and loss enter the foster care system and the myriad of ways they affect both providers and families.

The course explores how caretakers (e.g., foster parents, bio parents, social workers, case workers, group home managers, etc.) experience grief during foster care placement and removal.

We review the different types of loss and the impact they have on grief.

We examine the way grief affects every single aspect of our lives and what happens when grief is prolonged and doesn't go away on its own.

We provide tools that help providers and parents process their emotions when a child is removed from a placement and share strategies for taking care of yourself in the aftermath.

Click on the link below to take the course. It's free and open to everyone. Just set up a free account at the Catalyst Center on the California Alliance of Child and Family Services website. CEU certificate available upon completion.

https://catalystcenter.learnupon.com/content.../4294303/0

02/28/2025

The Center for Creative Leadership is seeking people to respond to their survey for a study on workplace experiences.

The Center is interested in learning how organizations and managers respond to bereavement and the types of organizational policies and practices that are available for employees.

Anyone can take the survey, even if you have not experienced a bereavement.

You are welcome to share the link with coworkers or other colleagues and friends that might be interested in participating.

Thank you in advance!

https://ccl.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a5hdcH5xs2fTHKK

02/25/2025

I'm excited to be talking all things strategy at The Alliance: Defending the Cause of Kids & Families's upcoming PRO Workshop on Tuesday, March 18th and learning from two other outstanding speakers – Eric Bergen, who will be talking about cultivating a strong, effective board and my dear friend Marcie Shelton who will be sharing practical ways to engage and retain your staff.

It's $25 to attend. Coffee and snacks will be provided. You'll have the opportunity to win a free coaching session with me as well as other great prizes donated by Eric and Marcie.

To register – https://www.defendingthecause.org/pro-workshops

01/22/2025

After the death of one of our essential people, we are left vulnerable and defenseless when it comes to what others say to us. The hurtful questions about how our loved one died. The unwelcome advice on how to get over our grief more quickly. Even well-worn platitudes, offered without context or understanding, can wound. But despite our fragile state, we can find ways to deflect these comments, or avoid them altogether, and protect ourselves from the pain they inflict.

Join me on Tuesday, January 28th from at 7:00 pm EST on Zoom for a conversation on how to prepare yourself for the often well-meaning, but no less painful questions and remarks friends, family members and coworkers make after a heartbreaking loss. Learn techniques to navigate situations you can’t avoid, protect yourself from those you can and let go of your hurt feelings in the aftermath.

Sponsored in partnership by COPE (Connecting Our Paths Eternally) and Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboretum, the workshop is free. Click here to register or for more information –
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grief-online-workshop-when-words-fail-navigating-hurtful-comments-tickets-1128181494219?aff=oddtdtcreator

01/10/2025

After the death of one of our essential people, we are left vulnerable and defenseless when it comes to what others say to us. The hurtful questions about how our loved one died. The unwelcome advice on how to get over our grief more quickly. Even well-worn platitudes, offered without context or understanding, can wound. But despite our fragile state, we can find ways to deflect these comments, or avoid them altogether, and protect ourselves from the pain they inflict.

Join me on Tuesday, January 28th from at 7:00 pm EST on Zoom for a conversation on how to prepare yourself for the often well-meaning, but no less painful questions and remarks friends, family members and coworkers make after a heartbreaking loss. Learn techniques to navigate situations you can’t avoid, protect yourself from those you can and let go of your hurt feelings in the aftermath.

Sponsored in partnership by COPE Foundation and Pinelawn Memorial Park and Arboretum, the workshop is free. Click here to register or for more information -- https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grief-online-workshop-when-words-fail-navigating-hurtful-comments-tickets-1128181494219?aff=oddtdtcreator

01/01/2025

"The light is coming back, a little more every day. We are still here. Battered and bruised. Hurting and healing. Vulnerable and brave. Still standing and sticking together. Releasing our grip on old grievances. Holding tight to the ones we've lost and the ones who enable us to survive. Fighting to stay in the arena. Doing our best.

Wishing you grace, beauty, hope, healing and joy in the new year. Here's to staying close, holding hands and keeping each other upright as life rains down all around us."

You can't stop time. You can't capture light. You can only turn your face up and let it rain down. The Memory Keeper's Daughter

12/30/2024

"When I talk to people who are either clients or those I've met through Salt Water, the common thing I hear is that when a death happens, colleagues and managers will be great about sending cards, showing up at the celebration of life or funeral, making meals, contributing to a scholarship fund for surviving children, etc. But when they see their grieving colleague who's lost a child come down the hallway, they make a face or go the other way ..."

Grief needs to be acknowledged and witnessed, especially in the workplace. Dr. Heidi Horsley, Dr. Gloria Horsley and I discuss ways to do that on the Open to Hope Foundation podcast in the early days of loss as well as what support looks like long term to be sure that the person who’s grieving has some agency over the support they receive and how it manifests.

https://www.opentohope.com/margo-fowkes-acknowledging-and-witnessing-grief/

12/23/2024

"There’s a lot of language around needing to be more supportive in the work environment of people who are grieving, which, of course, we do. But the problem for someone who’s not experienced a profound loss is that they don’t know what that looks like. They don’t know how to be supportive other than to be kind. They might not know to check in regularly. They wouldn’t know that Ali and Margo may need the day off on the anniversary of the day their child died. The book gets down to those nuts and bolts kinds of actions – the questions to ask, the way to check in, how to involve other people in supporting your grieving employee, etc."

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/episode-8-salt-water-is-the-cure-for-everything/id1766585064?i=1000681135961

Greyson's Choice

12/10/2024

"It’s about allowing the people in your organization who are grieving to be the experts on their grief and to say what kind of help they need. When we make that shift, even when we’re supporting someone one-on-one, it takes the pressure off of us. I don't have to know how to fix the situation. Instead, I can turn to the person who does know and ask them what would help."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtnWenP8ZO4

12/05/2024

"In the run up to my fifth Christmas without dad, I have some reflections and some lessons I have learnt along the way to help me navigate these tricky moments. These reflections I hope will bring some comfort to those facing their first Christmas missing a loved one, and to those working with and managing people who are grieving this holiday season.

・Christmas is not a celebration for everyone. For some Christmas is a time that magnifies their losses, whether that’s through a bereavement, or otherwise. Remember your colleagues might not want to 'celebrate' with the rest of the team or organisation. Try and make celebrations as optional as possible, with no stigma for those who don't wish to attend.”

~Lucy Carpenter

These reflections I hope will bring some comfort to those facing their first Christmas missing a loved one and to those working with and managing people who are grieving this holiday season …