Janice Bell Meisenhelder

After the loss of her 19-year-old daughter to cancer, Dr. Janice Bell Meisenhelder turned her grief work towards helping others. She used her insight as a nurse, her experience with peer counseling of other bereaved mothers, and her knowledge of the research to compose a gentle guide with practical tips for healing: Surviving the Unthinkable: The Loss of a Child. Based on scientific evidence as well as personal experience, this book provides comforting help to all bereaved mothers in short, digestible bites in chronological order according to need by topic. It has received rave reviews from leaders of The Compassionate Friends chapters. Dr. Meisenhelder holds a Doctor of Nursing Science from Boston University. Her clinical nursing practice was at Massachusetts General Hospital in medical-surgical, intensive care and oncology. With extensive experience in nursing education, she is currently a professor of nursing at Emmanuel College in Boston, Massachusetts, teaching at both the RN-BSN and Graduate Level nursing courses. Dr. Meisenhelder has published thirty-six articles in professional and scholarly journals, including topics on coping as well as clinical guidelines for working with bereaved parents in the Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Dr. Meisenhelder currently resides near Boston, MA with her husband. She has one surviving daughter.

Articles:

Longing for a Child Who has Died

Longing for a Child Who has Died The intense longing for your deceased child causes difficult emotional pain and unremitting agony. Our bodies and minds cry out deep from our core to see, hear, touch, smell and feel our child.  Although there is no satisfying these needs, bereaved parents find many ways to stay connected to their child and recommend doing so to other bereaved mothers. Parents report a lessening of the intensity of their grief when they remain connected to their child, and continue bonding practices for many years, usually their lifetime.  For the bereaved parent, the goal of […]

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Spring Holidays May Trigger Grief

Spring Holidays May Trigger Grief Our springtime spiritual holidays and rituals hold memories and significance which enriches our lives. But they may also be difficult waters to navigate following the loss of a loved one.  Just as Thanksgiving or other holidays harken traditions of gathering with family and friends, these spring holidays often hold the same expectations of togetherness. People in grief react differently to these holiday triggers, just as any other trigger.  Some people find great comfort in gathering with others and reminiscing.  One woman found the Stages of the Cross of Good Friday to offer her the opportunity […]

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Valentine’s Day Triggers Mother’s Grief

From the author of  Surviving the Unthinkable: The Loss of a Child: Meisenhelder, Janice Bell: 9780979651120: Amazon.com: Books My firstborn, Melissa, was a hopeless romantic! She loved Valentine’s Day ever since she was a little girl. We always celebrated as a family with a special dinner and Valentine cards. My husband would give red roses and candy to all three of “his girls”: myself, Melissa, and her younger sister. As a teen, Melissa always had a boyfriend. and Valentine’s Day continued to be a major celebration. Melissa succumbed to cancer in June of 2004, at the age of 19. I […]

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For Grieving Moms: When Others Respond in Hurtful Ways

  Fix-It Friends People feel helpless in the face of your loss of a child. They have an intense need to say something to lessen your pain.   They cannot understand that this pain refuses any comfort and must be processed over time to ease. They try to help by saying things that negate your pain, such as: “He’s in a better place,” or “You can have another child.” They may also tell you they know how you feel and compare your loss to their loss of a grandparent, which just feels insulting to you.  They may tell you that you […]

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