January 10, 2008: Healing through Service - John Pete

January 10, 2008 - HEALING THROUGH SERVICE:  JOHN PETE.  John Pete is a Certified Grief Counselor and founder of www.MyGriefSpace.net <http://www.mygriefspace.net/> .  Like many others, John came to the field through losses in his personal life that include drowning, suicides, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, homicide, leukemia, AIDS and pets.  Whenever possible, John uses his personal experiences to ease the suffering of others who have lost a loved one.  He encourages anyone grieving a loss to actively seek out healing resources as a way to regain some much-needed control in their lives.  John states that he finds tremendous personal healing by helping others. Read more

December 20, 2007: Getting Through the Holidays Without Your Spouse - Linda Della Donna

DECEMBER 20, 2007 - GETTING THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS WITHOUT YOUR SPOUSE:  LINDA DELLA DONNA.  Linda Della Donna is a freelance writer who supports new widows through the grief process.  A graduate of the Institute of Children’s Literature and School of Hard Knocks, she writes about death, dying, and cancer and shares ways to turn an upside-down smile right side up again.  She writes from the heart.  Her blog http://Griefcase.blogspot.com/ <http://griefcase.blogspot.com/>  is written especially for widows. Read more

December 13, 2007 - Men and Loss: Neil Chethik

DECEMBER 13, 2007 – MEN AND LOSS: NEIL CHETHIK.  Neil is an author, speaker and expert on the psychology of men.  He is author of the acclaimed book, FatherLoss: How Sons of All Ages Come to Terms With the Deaths of Their Dads (Hyperion 2001) based on his original research involving 350 men.  He also wrote VoiceMale: What Husbands Really Think About Their Marriages, Their Wives, Sex, Housework, and Commitment (Simon & Schuster 2006).  He is currently Writer-in-Residence at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, Kentucky, where he lives with his wife, Kelly Flood, and son, Evan.  Read more

DECEMBER 6, 2007 – TRAUMA AND BEREAVEMENT IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: NORMAN J. FRIED, PH.D.

DECEMBER 6, 2007 – TRAUMA AND BEREAVEMENT IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: HELPING OUR FAMILIES GROW AFTER A LOSS:  NORMAN J. FRIED, PH.D.  Dr. Fried is Director of Psychosocial Services for the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Winthrop University Hospital on Long Island, New York.  A clinical psychologist with graduate degrees from Emory University, he has also taught in the medical school of New York University and the graduate school of St. John’s University and has been a Fellow in Clinical and Pediatric Psychology at Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Fried is a Disaster Mental Health Specialist for The American Red Cross of Greater New York, and he has a private practice in grief and bereavement counseling on Long Island.  He is married with three sons and lives in Roslyn, New York. Read more

NOVEMBER 8, 2007 - LOSS OF A WIFE AND CHILD TO SUICIDE AND PREMATURE BIRTH - Abel Keogh

NOVEMBER 8, 2007 - LOSS OF A WIFE AND CHILD TO SUICIDE AND PREMATURE BIRTH

 Abel Keogh is the author of the memoir Room for Two, which is based on Abel’s marriage to his first wife, Krista.  In November of 2001, Krista took her own life.  At the time Krista shot herself she was seven months pregnant with the couple’s first child.  Abel’s daughter, Hope, was born two months premature the day Krista died.  Baby Hope lived for nine days.  In February of 2003 Abel married Julianna and is currently the father of two boys and a girl.  Abel is a writer, editor, and political columnist.  His previous fiction and poetry have been published in Rough Draft and Metaphor and Strong Verse.  www.abelkeogh.com Read more

November 1, 2007 Dealing With The Death of A Child to Leukemia - Lisa Nehmer

NOVEMBER 1, 2007 - DEALING WITH THE DEATH OF A CHILD TO LEUKEMIA:  LISA NEHMER.  Lisa’s 10-year-old son David was diagnosed with AML leukemia in 1996.  Her life was never the same.  David’s protocol required three rounds of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant donated by his 14-year-old sister Rachel.  David fought hard for two years until he passed away on August 6, 1998, from a lung infection.  In David’s memory, Lisa who is a social worker started the Healing Heart Foundation.  The foundation mission is to help chronically terminally-ill children with their pain and to improve palliative care for chronically and terminally-ill children.  Lisa has also founded the David Center for Pain and Palliative Care at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. Read more

October 25, 2007 - An Adopted Child Losing Her Sibling: Kristy Mueller

OCTOBER 25, 2007 - AN ADOPTED CHILD LOSING HER SIBLING:  KRISTY MUELLER.  In 1995, Kristy Mueller’s brother, Keith Konopasek, a police officer in Oakland, California, was murdered in the line of duty.  A short time later, Kristy, along with the parents who adopted her, joined the South Bay, Los Angeles chapter of The Compassionate Friends.  Kristy went on to start a sibling group, which she facilitated for five years.  A former national board member, Kristy is a speaker and workshop presenter for The Compassionate Friends. Read more

October 18, 2007: Arriving on the Scene: A Son Dies in an Auto Crash - Khris Ford

OCTOBER 18, 2007 - ARRIVING ON THE SCENE: A SON DIES IN AN AUTO CRASH:  KHRIS FORD.  Khris is a Licensed Professional Counselor whose passion is to share the transformative power of the grief that she experienced with the death of her 16-year-old son, Stephen, in an automobile crash.  With the death of Stephen, Khris’ life, as she knew it, stopped.  Memories and time are now marked by “before and after Stephen’s death.”  But grief and death aren’t the final words in Khris’ story.  She shares with us a commitment to the process of grieving and the belief that our pain has the power to transform us. Read more

October 11, 2007: Coping With Pregnancy and Infant Loss - Monica Novak

OCTOBER 11, 2007 – COPING WITH PREGNANCY AND INFANT LOSS:  MONICA NOVAK.  Following the stillbirth of her daughter Miranda in 1995, Monica Novak joined a support group, which included six women who had also lost babies to miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death.  The women quickly bonded and began the journey through grief and trying to get pregnant again.  Monica chronicles their journey of healing and friendship in her book The Good Grief Club.  The women are still friends today and have turned their pain into a new way of living, giving back by helping other bereaved parents.  The Good Grief Club is available from Inkwell Productions and on the Share National Pregnancy and Infant Loss website:  www.nationalshareoffice.com; thegoodgriefclub@comcast.net; www.thegoodgriefclub.com. Read more

October 4, 2007 - Grieving as a Meaning-Making Process: Dr. Robert Neimeyer

DR. ROBERT A. NEIMEYER, Professor and Director of Psychotherapy Research in the Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, where he also maintains an active clinical practice. Robert has published 20 books, including Meaning Reconstruction and the Experience of Loss, and serves as Editor of the journal “Death Studies.” The author of over 300 articles and book chapters, and a frequent workshop presenter, he is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving as a meaning-making process. Robert served as President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling and Chair of the International Work Group for Death, Dying, & Bereavement. In recognition of his scholarly contributions, he has been granted the Eminent Faculty Award by the University of Memphis, and made a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. Read more

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