Dr. Peggy DeLong

Dr. Peggy DeLong is a psychologist, known as The Gratitude Psychologist. She teaches people how to harness the power of gratitude and joy to live their best lives, especially through difficult times. She does this through psychotherapy, her on-line monthly membership Feeling Good with Dr. Peggy, on-line courses, speaking engagements, books, and bracelets. Peggy is the author of I Can See Clearly Now: A Memoir about Love, Grief, and Gratitude, The Gratitude Journal: A 365 Day Gratitude Journey, and Feeling Good: 35 Proven Ways to Happiness, Even During Tough Times. She is also the owner of LOVE in a Bracelet, where she designs bracelets for coping with grief and loss, mental health, and inspiration. Peggy coordinates a weekly women’s walking group for 7 years, and she hosts women’s hiking events for spiritual growth and personal development. When she’s not focused on her businesses, you’ll find Peggy with her husband and three children in the mountains, downhill or telemark skiing, kayaking, hiking, or mountain biking.

Articles:

Holiday Grief Planning May Ease the Pain

As we enter the holiday season, careful planning is important for those who are dealing with a profound or recent loss. Holiday grief planning can change the season from potentially unbearable to pleasant or even joyful. Holiday Grief Planning Consider how you plan to obtain additional emotional support. If being alone is too painful, invite someone over, or accept an invitation that you might not normally accept. Let Others Know What You Need People mean well, but sometimes need to be told how to respond to you and the loss. Out of fear of saying the “wrong” thing, people sometimes […]

Coping with Holidays After Death of a Loved One

The death of a loved one is a traumatic and emotionally painful experience. Coping during the holidays is a particularly difficult time for dealing with loss. Here are suggestions that may help alleviate that pain, and to foster healing and meaning. Be Fully Present Allow yourself to be fully present with your emotions and sensations. Even though grief can feel terrible and overwhelming, it is a normal reaction to death, and a healthy part of the healing process. Allow the tears to flow when you feel like crying. During grief, we sometimes experience our loved one through our senses. This […]

Gratitude is Most Powerful on Difficult Days

Gratitude is Most Powerful on Difficult Days Don’t save gratitude for your good days. Gratitude is most powerful on your difficult days. Keep it simple. When you are going through a difficult time, think about one simple thing you are grateful for. That stops negative thinking from spiraling out of control, shifts your energy, and elevates your mood. It doesn’t change your circumstances, but focusing on gratitude is powerful and can completely transform the way you view your situation and how you feel. Finding Gratitude in a Cup I discovered the power of gratitude during anticipatory grief – in 1994 […]

Ideas for Coping With Loss

Making Loss Meaningful The death of a loved one is a traumatic and emotionally painful experience. The following suggestions are made to hopefully alleviate some of that pain, to turn a painful experience into a healing experience, and to make the experience meaningful. Allow yourself to be fully present with your emotions and sensations. Even though grief can feel terrible and overwhelming, it is a normal reaction to death, and a healthy part of the healing process. Allow the tears to flow when you feel like crying. During grief, we sometimes experience our loved one through our senses. This can […]

3 Ways to Foster Strength and Resilience

First Way to Foster Strength The first way to train yourself to foster strength is to induce relaxation on demand. Being able to shut off the negative thinking going on in your brain is an important skill that helps you begin to relax. This is a skill that takes practice, but you can learn. The more you practice relaxation exercises when you are feeling calm, the more familiar they will feel, and the more effective they will be when you are experiencing anxiety. When you engage in relaxation exercises, such as deep breathing and meditation, you are quieting your mind, […]

Cultivating Hope During Difficult Times

Hope for Better Days What do you do when it seems like everything is going wrong? What can you do when it feels like you’ve got too much burden to bear and can’t go on? How can you possibly cope when you’re experiencing profound grief? Hope. Hope for better days ahead. Fostering Hope There are many benefits to fostering hope, whether you’re going through a difficult time right now, or not. And it IS possible to foster hope, even if you’re in the midst of profound grief. In fact, that’s when you need hope the most. Sometimes it feels like […]

10 Ways to Generate Joy on a Difficult Day

Sometimes we have very little energy, time, or inner resources to do things that will help us feel better. This list was created to assist you with simple ideas for feeling better on a difficult day. ‘Cause that’s when we need these methods the most! All of these methods are demonstrated by research in psychology to be effective. What can you do today to feel good? Celebrate something small. Take deep breaths. Step outside. Visualize a pleasant experience. Put a social event on the calendar. Listen to upbeat music. Light a candle or burn incense. Write a gratitude letter. Smile. […]

5 Simple Ideas to Get Through a Difficult Day

This list is excerpted from FEELING Good: 35 Proven Ways to Happiness, Even During Tough Times Get outside. Spending just 5 minutes outside can elevate mood and help you get through the day. Go outside for a few minutes during your lunch break. If you can get outside and spend some time in nature, that will have even more of a powerful impact. (Ch. 2 Get Outside in Nature). Do something that brings you joy. Have something to look forward to at the end of the day. Get together with or plan a phone call with a good friend. Read a […]

Open to Hope is an online community offering inspirational stories of loss, hope and recovery. We believe hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.