Deb Brandt
Certified Funeral Celebrant, Professional Writer, Public Speaker and Educator
Celebrant Services
As a certified funeral celebrant, Deb is a story-catcher, listening for and collecting the stories of a family and their precious loved one. Collaborating with family and funeral directors, Deb develops highly individualized memorial or celebration of life services that tell the stories of a life well-lived. Together with family members, Deb remembers the one who has died while creating the space for mourning to begin. Service elements may include music, stories, video tributes and poetry, as well as traditional practices.
Some people choose to work with Deb prior to their own death. She helps them define their wishes for how they would like to be remembered and honored. Pre-planning with Deb empowers individuals to have a voice in the process, provides personal peace of mind and helps create a parting gift for their surviving family members.
Deb’s expertise as a celebrant is grounded by a master’s degree in religious studies, certificates in grief and death studies and as a creative grief practitioner. In addition to her work as a celebrant, Deb offers grief education programs in a variety of settings.
Recent Blog Posts
Grief Pandemic | Navigating Traumatic Losses
Last week I read that for every COVID death, there are at least 9 grieving family members. Grandparents, parents, spouses, and partners, and of course children – while I wonder about the accuracy of such a thought, I know there are many people being affected. With...
Self-Care Through Minding Yourself
Last fall I attended a story telling workshop at Pendle Hill Quaker Center for Study and Contemplation. The workshop was led by Irish poet/theologian Padraig O'Tauma. At the beginning of our time together, Padriag told the large circle of attendees that it was our job...
A New Normal
I keep hearing people talk about arriving at a "new normal." As if the circumstances we are in have already achieved this milestone when we are neck-deep in the shifting sands of uncertainty, vulnerability, and fear. We might have one day that feels like it might be a...
What Are You Planting for the Future?
With the prevalence of news available to us all in a 24/7 cycle we are all witness, daily, to the unfolding traumas of this pandemic. Every single day we have access to the powerlessness and vulnerability of our families, communities, countries and world. We can...
Echoes of Losses Past
After my mom died in 2006, I attended a grief support group at an area hospice. There were many takeaways in that time of loss. One that stays with me in this time of great upheaval is that our losses can have an echo. The feelings of older losses come back and...
COVID-19 Coping
In the wee hours of the night when sleep escapes me, I start to pray and listen and think about how I can survive wherever this process takes us. Like everyone I know I feel powerless, full of emotion, fearful and broken in turn. Feelings come out of nowhere. They can...
The Grief Diet
What I've been reviewing lately is how hard it can be to fix meals in a time of loss. After a long work day, I find myself staring into the refrigerator and freezer and noticing delicious and healthy supplies—and still not being able to choose. Sometimes when I...
Grief Garden
Digging, chopping, pulling, pushing—shovel, hoe, pitch fork, wheel barrow. Working in my weedy vegetable garden in recent days I began to think about the how much this physical effort is a mirror for grief. Mourning the loss of someone or something seems...
What’s On Your Plan B List?
In the months after my mom died (nearly 10 years ago) I participated in a grief support group offered by a local hospice facility. One of the takeaways that has stayed with me across the years it to have a plan in advance. That empowering thought—have a...
Listen: art and story
Listen to Deb's writing experiences and upcoming opportunities on Indy's Art of the Matter with Sharon Gamble on WFYI Radio.
Certifications
