About:
Rick Bergh. Thanatologist.
Telling stories has always been a big part of my life. Whether sharing an idea, counselling a client, speaking to sales reps or preaching a sermon, story-telling has been the most important tool in my toolbox of communication. That’s why I always want to hear others’ stories as well – telling a story comes in the back door and transforms us from the inside out, whether we are the listener or the speaker.
When I am out for coffee, enjoying a beer in a pub or waiting at an airport, I will often engage people in conversation, ask a few questions, and then sit back and hear about their life and the things that have shaped them – beautiful things and tragic things – but always important.
My education and training in Narrative Therapy means that I engage people in a way that honors the individual’s story – past, present and future.
My own life changed dramatically when my first wife, Pam, was diagnosed with cancer at age 42 and died five years later. Although I had always been heavily involved in grief work prior to Pam’s diagnosis, the grief journey we experienced as a family shaped much of my content around story-telling in grief and loss.
Since that time, I re-married (to Erica). We have four children and three grandchildren. Erica and I write children’s stories based upon our experience with the kids and grandkids.
We hang out at the farm a lot and do chores, because that’s where our grandkids live.
I love hockey. I love people. I love writing books and travel frequently throughout North America sharing the power of story to heal and transform lives.
We live in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada where we enjoy the wonderful outdoors and the ocean.
“I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles…”
Christopher Reeve
