Talking to your children about the death of your pet
Julianna still tears up when she thinks about her longtime dog Sadie. “I’m embarrassed. Shouldn’t I be over this by now?” she asks three...
Music after loss: What is the soundtrack for your grieving?
In a time of grieving, we need all the help and comfort we can gather in. A phone call from the right person, a passage from a loved...
So Many Books, So Much Power to Help: Today, grief books for children
In counseling grad school, I had to take a course called Bibliotherapy. I was skeptical, high as I was on the electricity in the therapy...
A New Years Resolution in a year of grief: A place to start
What happens when you combine Grief and New Years Resolutions? Usually, not much. The lofty intention – usually short-lived – to do hard...
Grief and the holidays: 5 ideas for survival
I have heard many different strategies for “getting through” the holidays, from my counseling clients, from friends, from family. There...
Grief in the Outback: Living and grieving in an ancient way
You never know where you are going to learn something about grieving. When I visited Australia, I spent some time in the Outback, the...
Where grief and fear meet
Grief contains a tumble of emotional and psychological effects. Ask anyone what they are and they will list off Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’s...
Grief improving: I thought I forgot how to laugh
At our first session, Nancy (not her real name of course) told me that at first, right after her dad died, she was speechless. “I don’t...
What early parental loss means for your grieving
What do Eleanor Roosevelt, Barbra Steisand, and I have in common? It’s not celebrity (I’m out) or human rights icon status (no for me and...
When grief actually begins: can we pre-grieve a coming loss?
Pamela Jane Bell just wanted to join a grief support group. With her husband in hospice care, she was losing more of him day by day. She...
