When it comes to grief and the holidays, making a plan is essential. I don’t generally recommend a Plan C but I do recommend a Plan A and a Plan B. You really don’t know how you’re going to feel when the holiday gets here but you can make a plan nonetheless. It might be …
Make a Plan for Getting Through The Holidays When You’re Grieving Read More »
No matter how you plan for the holidays, or any other special day you shared with your loved one, it is especially important to plan on how you are going to take care of yourself. Here are some suggestions specifically focused on getting through the holidays. I hope they help. 1. Take good care of yourself. …
When You’re Grieving, Take Especially Good Care of Yourself Through the Holidays Read More »
Anticipation of any holiday is almost always worse than the reality. This is also true for every birthday, anniversary and special day you may have shared. Your apprehension is understandable. You don’t know exactly how you’re going to feel. You know you’re going to be sad and you imagine it’s all going to be positively …
When You’re Grieving, Anticipation is Harder than the Reality Read More »
Many grief counselors believe all death is traumatic. I don’t agree. I have worked with too many people who have experienced the peaceful death of a loved one to believe all deaths are traumatic. Even with a peaceful death, however, the grief is painful but not traumatic. Personally, I think of grief and trauma as …
Grief is many things, but at its most fundamental level it is a transformational journey. We are profoundly changed by the experience of grief. Understanding the entire journey as the personal transformation that it is, can help put the daily roller coaster ride into perspective. Listen to the Podcast Summary We are not healing grief. …
Grief, in and of itself, is overwhelming. It is a massive change in your life, and it doesn’t make sense to your head or your heart. Plus, you are trying to manage the daily activities in your life. When we’re grieving managing all of that can seem impossible. In this video I talk about the …
In the first few weeks and months of grief we experience numbness and shock. Just like the body’s physical reaction to trauma we go into shock, our psyches protect us from experiencing the full reality of a death. This is how it’s supposed to be. It’s how we’re wired and thank goodness for that. Rather …
Healing means becoming whole. Period. End of story. It does not mean returning to a previous state of being as I heard someone say on the radio the other day. All it means is becoming whole. After the experience of death and the grief that follows, that wholeness will be dramatically different from what we …
Every so often I get a message from someone who is grieving the death of someone, usually a parent, who was abusive. To say this complicates grief is the understatement of all time. The mix of grief and abuse is so confusing. So what’s really going on? Every so often I get a message from …
Is there a difference between “trying to be strong” and choosing to grieve privately? In our culture, we are applauded for “being strong” after we’ve experienced a profound loss. We actually get a tremendous about of approval for being strong in the face of any kind of pain. So rather than allowing ourselves to be …