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What Kind of Courage Does Grief Require?

Posted on June 25, 2020 - by Elaine Voci

This is an excerpt from The Five Most Harmful Myths About Grief by Elaine Voci, Ph.D. which is available on Amazon.com In writing this booklet, my purpose is to contribute to the specific undoing of five common myths about grief that are untrue and create unnecessary pain, and impose psychological burdens on the bereaved. These myths are the foundation for much of the unsolicited bad advice that bereaved people receive. In my career and in my personal life I have experienced my share of grief, loss, and healing and I have worked in hospice with grieving families, and patients who […]

Who is the Lost Loved One? Us.

Posted on June 16, 2020 - by Basia Mosinski

This is an excerpt of LOST to FOUND: Surviving the Death of Your Child by Basia Mosinski, available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1720222657 Often in grief circles we hear the term ‘loss’, as if our child or loved one is somehow ‘lost’ to us. The person who is LOST is us…the parents, stepparents, grandparents, siblings, wives or husbands, after our child or loved one has died. We’re lost, yet, if we open to the mysteries of the grief journey, we can build a new self from the shards.

‘Crazy’ Grief Dreams Often the Most Profound

Posted on June 9, 2020 - by Lois Schaffer

Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life without them is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. — Langston Hughes. I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge – myth is more potent than history – dreams are more powerful than facts – hope always triumphs over experience – laughter is the cure for grief – love is stronger than death. — Robert Fulghum. Dreams reflect the essence of the innermost thoughts and feelings of the human soul. In some cases they seem to seem to involuntarily express deepened feelings after the death of a loved one. […]

Personal Growth and Trauma

Posted on June 8, 2020 - by Gloria Horsley

Trauma does create post-traumatic stress, but it also can lead to extraordinary personal growth. On today’s Facebook Live, Heidi and I explored this idea with Dr. Richard Tedeschi, a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is also a licensed psychologist and helped originate the concept of post-traumatic growth (PTG), publishing many academic books and articles on the subject. Traumatic Times All of us go through trauma in our lives to varying degrees. It can be the loss of a loved one, a life-threatening illness, injury, or other issue that puts us in a place where […]

Relationships Make the Difference in Grief

Posted on June 5, 2020 - by Mary Jane Hurley Brant

Excerpted from When Every Day Matters: A Mother’s Memoir on Love, Loss and Life (Simple Abundance Press) on Amazon I always felt so close to my husband, Dick, as I observed him loving Katie, loving Richard, our son. He was never jealous of all the attention I gave to our kids right from the start. A wife can feel that; she knows the difference. As a couple we worried about Richard because his nature was sweet and sensitive and because the reality of our tie with Katie naturally meant that there was less time to focus on him. We did […]

Building Resilience Through Art

Posted on June 3, 2020 - by Elaine Voci

This is an excerpt from Resilience Art: A Grief Coloring Book Using Ritual and Music to Help You Grow by Elaine Voci, Ph.D. which is available on Amazon.com. I believe that we are hard-wired for coping with loss and that some of our coping requires simple, ordinary settings that help us find a path to healing. Among the most powerful are the natural settings in our world, such as parks, large bodies of water, green spaces, public fields of grass, trees, and flowers, inhabited by birds and other living creatures with whom we share this earth. The experiences of beauty […]

Death, Loss and Spiritual Growth

Posted on June 1, 2020 - by Gloria Horsley

Are you having a difficult time coping with the loss of a loved one during these traumatic times? Today, on Facebook Live, Heidi talked with Galen Goben, Grief Support Director for Forest Lawn Mortuary and an ordained minister, about the intersection between death, loss, and spiritual growth. What’s Changed? People feel stuck in their grief and angry at the inability to recognize their losses — COVID-19 or otherwise — over the last few months. Not being able to hug your friends and family and get that physical support has left so many feeling lonely. What’s Possible? While there are still […]

Living and Telling Your Own Story

Posted on May 30, 2020 - by Fran Gerstein

This is an excerpt from Grief From the Inside Out: Creating Meaning Around the Loss of a Child from Substance Abuse or Suicide, By Fran Gerstein, MSW, LCSW. It is available through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999563513/ GPS When I lost my child a small, quavering voice appeared— not quite mine, not quite not mine. It announced, through static, that I was being rerouted. I tried to follow the orange signs marked Detour but they led me to the edge of a cliff. Still trusting and obedient, I drove right off. When I regained consciousness, I lay there for months […]

Join Us for an International Day of Coping with Grief Event

Posted on May 29, 2020 - by Gloria Horsley

Today, on our Facebook Live discussion, Heidi and I talked about how to cope with the fact that all of the upcoming bereavement conferences have been cancelled due to the shelter-in-place mandates and the ongoing need to maintain a certain physical distance. In-Person Bereavement Conferences Cancelled We’re all sad that all the summer in-person bereavement conferences have been cancelled. This is the season for so many of them. It’s a time we all look forward to so we can connect with old friends, make new friends, and get hope from the hope and healing that’s part of the conference panels, […]

Do’s and Don’ts of Self-Care After the Loss of a Child

Posted on May 25, 2020 - by Fran Gerstein

This is an excerpt from Grief From the Inside Out: Creating Meaning Around the Loss of a Child from Substance Abuse or Suicide, By Fran Gerstein, MSW, LCSW. It is available through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999563513/ Do remind yourself that you are important Losing a child makes you feel empty and challenges your sense of purpose, especially if you have identified yourself first and foremost as a parent. Chances are there are many other people who need you, and things you have yet to accomplish. As you grieve, you must also focus on these future goals and keep them in mind. […]