Fiona Smith is the Director of Gifted Minds Pty Ltd based in Sydney, Australia. She is a registered Psychologist and has a Masters Degree of Education, majoring in gifted education. Over the last twenty five years Fiona has worked with over 5000 gifted children, adolescents and adults. Fiona travels all over Australia and has done assessments in China and Hong Kong. She has spoken at State, National and International conferences since 1998. Fiona has done research in creativity and mental health and well-being issues seen in creative young adults in Australia. Fiona also counsels parents with gifted children.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light: An examination of the journey towards death.
Dylan Thomas provokes us with his words “Old age should burn and rave at close of day” and demands that we “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”. But I am more inclined towards “… go gentle into that good night” turning the negative around and embracing the journey through the latter years of life towards a well-crafted death, if that is possible. This presentation is based on both lived and clinical experience and aims to examine our pathways into dying through a Dabrowskian lens. An understanding of Positive Disintegration can help the gifted elder go through phases of grieving as physical and mental faculties are progressively deteriorating.