Sharon Greenlee

Sharon is a licensed counselor, author and consultant. For many years she has conducted seminars and workshops in all areas of personal growth, creativity, writing, stress reduction, grief, loss, change and life transitions. In the area of grief and loss she has provided staff development and grief after-care for hospital staff, schools, funeral directors, hospice staff and caregivers and various business groups. She conducts grief support groups and provides personal counsel for grieving adults and children. For many years her work as a hospice volunteer included support for bereaved children and their terminally ill mothers. Sharon’s book,” When Someone Dies”, Peachtree Publishing has been a source of comfort for many grieving children and adults. She is also the author of numerous articles. Recently moving from Wyoming to Fort Collins, CO, Sharon has a private counseling practice and teaches workshops, including grief and loss, for the Fort Collins Poudre Valley Hospital Aspen Club. https://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/14739/sharon-greenlee-when-someone-dies-how-can-we-help

Articles:

Entangled or Unresolved Grief

Just this morning I read a wise and timely quote from Eckhart Tolle: “As long as you make an identity for yourself out of pain, you cannot be free of it.” I’m always a bit amazed when words seem to just appear and find the perfect fit into something that’s going on in my own mind at the time. This is when I reaffirm my belief that there really are no accidents. This is the day I had set aside to sit down and write about what I have learned about Grief Entanglements. Wouldn’t you know: Sense of Identity is […]

Husband’s Valentines Stir Warm Memories

It’s one of those rare overcast days in Colorado and I’m working in my home office with nice music playing. I’ve been thinking about Valentine’s Day, realizing it will be here soon. On my walk today, I was remembering when I was a little girl and how I loved every single Valentine I received and truly believed each message was written just for me. As an elementary teacher, I saw young faces light up and smiles appear as each child would pore over every word of each valentine. They were probably thinking just what I used to think. “This was […]

Reframing: Technique to Make the Good Memories Come Alive

When we lose a loved one, the reaction is extreme sadness and that sadness plays its role in the form of grief. Many times the circumstances of the death can cause undue mental distress for the bereaved. For example, many who lost loved ones in the September 11th tragedy may be struggling to rid their minds of negative images of how their loved one may have suffered and finally died that fateful day. Such visual images, played repeatedly in the mind will greatly interfere with healthy grief healing. The goal of healthy grief is to be able to express the […]

A Children and Grief Story

My gramma’s grief over the loss of her only child devoured me! To see and hear her wailing and knowing she couldn’t stop was heartbreaking and frightening. Her sadness, and my inability to do anything about it grieved me, possibly as much as the grief I felt for the loss of my mother. I was eleven years old and my mother and grandmother had always been my emotional haven. I felt totally alone! I recalled the words of my uncle on the night my mother died. His reminder that I must ‘be strong for my grandmother because now I was all […]

Does Grief End? Turning the Corner Takes Work, Faith, Patience

People who come for grief therapy often ask, “How long does this sadness last?” “Does it ever get better?” “Will I ever wake up some morning and feel something different than what I’m feeling now?” Though the questions are usually the same, the answers are not! I have learned from listening to others and from working through my own grief experiences, that length of grief time, changes in feelings, and turning the grief corners not only vary from person to person, but also vary for a single individual, depending upon the grief situation. After the death of my mother, as an eleven-year-old, I was stuck […]

‘Decorate Your Memory’ on Memorial Day

By Sharon Greenlee — When you see or hear Memorial Day, what are the first visuals and words that pop into your mind?? I see the cemetery, the funeral, my mother’s grave. I hear my grandmother’s mournful crying, and I see and hear all of this through the eyes of the ten-year old who experienced it. Before that time, Memorial Day meant American flags, and Mason jars filled with peonies placed on graves of long-past relatives that I knew only through stories. I asked this same question of two friends who haven’t lost close loved ones yet. Growing up in […]

Six Questions To Prepare You For, “How Are You Doing?”

By Sharon Greenlee — It’s been over six months since my husband died and people still ask the question: “How are you doing?” If you’ve lost a loved one, you’re familiar with that phrase. I wonder how you’ve responded? Do you really tell them, or do you offer a polite cliche? I found myself practicing various responses so as to not be caught off guard and either melt into a pile of tears or sound stoic and cold in my efforts to stay together. As a counselor in private practice I have worked with many grieving clients and I have […]

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