Understanding and Managing Grief, July 14- July 20, 2019

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Grief-Sensitive School Initiative, http://j.mp/2O4OIN7 « New York Life Insurance Company

6 Ways to Support a Grieving Teen, http://j.mp/32yWsKu « Modern Loss

Traveling with Grief, http://j.mp/2O2iNwO « The Artful Caregiver

Voices of Experience: Surviving Complicated Grief

Sydell with her husband Rex, 2013

By Sydell Weiner, PhD

The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief ~ but the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love.  ~ Hillary Stanton Zunin

Even though she is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Sydell Weiner writes that when her husband died nearly 3 years ago, "I fell apart. I was fortunate to find a 'Loss of Spouse' group at the Gathering Place, a service provided through Trinity Hospice at Providence Little Company of Mary. No sooner had that group ended, that a workshop called 'The Write Way' began. It provided guidance on how to use writing as a way of healing and working through grief. I have a blog on my website which had one or two counseling articles, but they were soon replaced by a series of blog posts that allowed me to express feelings too raw to talk about." The following post is taken from that series, and is reprinted here with Sydell's permission.

Pet Loss, Grief & Caregiving Tweets, July 7 - July 13, 2019

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

Crossing The Rainbow Bridge: Signs That The End Of Life Is Near, http://j.mp/32oDl64 « iHeartDogs.com

He Trots the Air, http://j.mp/2NYnNCy « Outside Online

In Grief: "I Didn't Want My Mom To See Me Cry," http://j.mp/2YFGgF9 « Grief Healing

In Grief: "I Didn't Want My Mom To See Me Cry"

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

Tears are words waiting to be written.  ~ Paulo Coelho

A reader writes:  My mom always told me I was overly sensitive. If someone in my family was ill, she wouldn't tell me because she knew it would make me cry. She hated to see me cry and always told me so. When my mom was in the hospital I did not want to upset her, so I would not let her see me cry. I held back my tears. I did not want her to know how scared I was because I did not want her to be more scared. I didn't even cry in front of her until the last day and she was already gone. Even when she was breathing on the machine, until her last breath, she didn't see me cry for her. I did not want to upset her. I did not want her to suffer ever. Mom always did the right thing. I wish I would have done a better job for her. Yes I did love on her and tell her how much we all loved her, just should have done everything different.

Understanding and Managing Grief, June 30 - July 6, 2019

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

It’s Time to Let the Five Stages of Grief Die, http://bit.ly/2FYxJpn « McGillOSS

Book Review: The Unexpected Journey of Caring: The Transformation from Loved One to Caregiver, http://j.mp/2FO6PjY « Well Spouse Association

In Grief: Use Caution When Seeking Comfort, http://j.mp/2YvcFOI « Grief Healing

In Grief: Use Caution When Seeking Comfort

Image by Lindsay_Jayne on Pixabay

The guru days are over. It's time to consult our inner wisdom. ~ Belleruth Naparstek

A reader writes: One of my recent problems has to to do with a book I’m reading, consisting mainly of writings and 'lectures' by a man who claims to be an actual avatar, a real embodiment of God Itself, and whose claims of how things really are, and how a continuing life might be for anyone, are very, very close to what I already believed to be the most logical and sensible way things probably worked. BUT, a few of the things he says have also been not only different, but quite frightening, at least to me.

Understanding and Managing Grief, June 23 - June 29, 2019

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

It Hurts Each Time you say "Suicide is Preventable" by Kelley Ford, http://j.mp/2YdJG1G « The Gift of Second

Grief Poems: The After Loss Credo, http://j.mp/2YpJI6N « AfterTalk

What's the Right Thing to Say When Someone Is Grieving? http://j.mp/2ZUoYEt « Psychology Today

Using Movies in A Grief Support Group Setting

Image by Brett Hondow from Pixabay

Everything I learned 
I learned from the movies.
~ Audrey Hepburn

A  colleague writes: I am a hospice bereavement counselor in the Great Plains region of the US. On the web, I ran across your blog post, Using Movies to Move through Grief. It is a great article and very helpful. I am considering showing some of the movies you suggested at our grief support group. In your work as a grief counselor, have you used movies in a support group setting? If so, how did it go? Are there any movies in particular that would work well for a group format? I would appreciate any insights you may have. 

Understanding and Managing Grief, June 16 - June 22, 2019

Best selections from Grief Healing's Twitter stream this week:

What is the Treatment for Complicated Grief? http://j.mp/2FqU2DX « Seven Ponds Blog

Grief's New Normal, http://j.mp/2ZzGj5p « Widower's Grief

How a Psychic Medium Broke Through My June Gloom, http://j.mp/2ZGLq3U  « Modern Loss

Pet Loss: A Letter of Thanks

Image by June Laves from Pixabay 

[There are] two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give.  ~ Edwin Arlington Robinson

A reader writes: Dear Marty, I want to express my gratitude to you personally for the comfort and strength you have given me and others like myself who have lost special companion animals. My cat of eleven and a half years died of kidney disease. We had him euthanized when the disease had progressed to the point where, although he still had his dignity and awareness, he was so painfully thin and weak that we knew he was very tired; he had "fought the good fight," and it was time to let him go.