YOU CANNOT DIE ALONE: Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (July 8, 1926-August 24, 2004)

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has accomplished much to revolutionize the way Americans view death and dying. The Swiss-born psychiatrist was one of the first professionals in the field to listen to the voice of dying patients and to give them a public forum. Her stages of responding to dying--denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance--are universally taught. In this never-published 1994 interview, she touches upon several of her theories in the field of thanatology. She speaks in succession: of four quadrants-- physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual--and of the need to develop a mature spiritual quadrant in order to deal with the fear of death; of the associated strategy of taking care of unfinished business that keeps us from being willing to face our own mortality; of her complete disagreement with the work of Jack Kevorkian; of three stages that occur after death: 1) the separation of the soul (butterfly) from the body (cocoon); 2) a return to wholeness and awareness; and 3) being embraced by the bliss of a peace-giving light; of the innovative possibility and need for developing elder-toddler centers in which dying patients would be able to mix with and receive love from very young children; and of grief and grieving in relation to her mother's dying. Throughout the interview, Kubler-Ross emphasizes both the wisdom of children, especially dying children, and trusting a field of unconditional love that awaits us. Omega notes with great sorrow the death of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross--one of the major pioneers in the study of dying and death. Any history of thanatology will need to acknowledge her contribution as well as review and evaluate her role and legacies. Hopefully this interview, published for the first time, helps us to both remember her unique essence as well as contribute to that effort. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]