Monday, April 9, 2018

Mourning The Death of A Love Relationship: Suggested Resources

[Reviewed and updated September 4, 2024]

When it hurts to stand still next to someone and the only thing you have in common is the past, sometimes the best thing you can do for each other is walk separately towards a future and it’s there you’ll find someone who stays. ~ Kirsten Corley

Whenever there is a loss of something significant in our lives, we suffer grief. When an intimate love relationship ends – whether we were married, living together with a partner or significant other, or committed to another as part of a couple – the separation can be overwhelmingly painful. Usually for a death there is a set ritual with a funeral or memorial service, and some understanding in our culture that mourning is important. But for the death of a love relationship, there is no prescribed ritual of mourning, and the accompanying grief that is part of the divorce / breaking-up process is seldom acknowledged or accepted. The ending of a love relationship is yet another kind of death, and it is just as worthy of our understanding and support. Gathered here are a number of resources that can help.
As always, if you know of others you've found useful that you think ought to be included, let us know in the Comments section below.


Books

After the Affair: Healing the Pain and Rebuilding Trust When a Partner Has Been Unfaithful

Changing Families: A Child’s Workbook About Divorce by Wendy Young

Coming Apart: Why Relationships End and How to Live through the Ending of Yours

Getting Past Your Breakup: How to Turn a Devastating Loss into the Best Thing That Ever Happened to You

Growing Wings: A View from Inside the Cocoon

How to Survive the Loss of a Love

How Can I Forgive You? The Courage to Forgive, The Freedom Not To

Invisible Heroes : Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal

Life After Loss: A Personal Guide Dealing with Death, Divorce, Job Change and Relocation

Life Is Goodbye, Life Is Hello: Grieving Well Through All Kinds of Loss

Mars and Venus Starting Over: A Practical Guide for Finding Love Again after a Painful Breakup, Divorce, or Loss of a Loved One

Moving On: Dump Your Relationship Baggage and Make Room for the Love of Your Life

Private Lies: Infidelity and Betrayal of Intimacy

Rebuilding: When Your Relationship Ends, 4th Edition

The Breakup Bible: The Smart Woman's Guide to Healing From a Breakup or Divorce

The Journey from Abandonment to Healing: Surviving the Loss of Love

The Disenfranchised: Stories of Life and Grief When an Ex-Spouse Dies

The Way of Transition: Embracing Life's Most Difficult Moments

Tough Transitions: Navigating Your Way through Difficult Times

Transcending Divorce: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart


Websites

Death of a Relationship Links, via Grief Healing

Loss of a Love Relationship - Grief Healing Discussion Groups Online Forum


Articles

5 Truths About Breakups (That No One Ever Tells You) by Melissa Lafsky

6 Tips for Getting Past Your Breakup by Susan J Elliott

10 Tips to Mend a Broken Heart by Therese J. Borchard

11 Pieces of BreakUp Advice From Broken-Hearted Men by Taryn Hillin
















Who Gets thePet In A Divorce? via WikiHow

Why Our Need for Closure Makes Us Selfish by Mark Travis Rivera

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