Understanding and Managing Grief, January 14 - January 27, 2024

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week:

There is a rising tide of positivity around the new year that can feel difficult for those suffering. Ambitious goals and resolutions can exacerbate discouragement or grief. An alternative approach is to focus on ways to steady and support yourself. How to Approach 2024 if Heavy-Hearted or Grief-Stricken « Psychology Today

Supporting Children and Adolescents in Grief

[Reviewed and updated February 6, 2026]

As an adult or child, experiencing grief means to “feel,” not just to “understand.” Anyone old enough to love is old enough to grieve.  ~ Alan D. Wolfelt

Children and adolescents grieve just as deeply as adults, but depending on their cognitive and emotional development, they will experience and express their grief differently from the grown-ups around them.

Caregiving and Hospice, December 16 - December 22, 2018

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

Documentary Review: "The Sum Total of Our Memory: Facing Alzheimer's Together," http://j.mp/2QH43o0 « Seven Ponds Blog

Nurses Again Outpace Other Professions for Honesty, Ethics, http://j.mp/2QHl3KR « GALLUP

What the FDA forgets in the battle against e-cigarettes, http://j.mp/2QJpncu « Kevin MD

Explaining Death To A Toddler

Source

[Reviewed and updated December 8, 2024]

Genuine listening [where parents listen respectfully to their children] requires being prepared to make new discoveries and to share sorrow and fear. This is difficult at any time; it is most difficult when the parent is in grief.  ~ David Peretz, MD

A reader writes: Basically, everything I’ve ever read recommends that a toddler not be shielded from the truth, and I believe that. However, there is a set of special circumstances here. My daughter saw her grandmother every day since she was born, as my mother cared for her while I was at work. The care-giving stopped abruptly last year. That has been very hard to deal with, but my older children were victims of a terrible crime by her husband, and for my younger child’s safety, I had to stop my baby from seeing her grandmother because my mother refused to leave this man. We didn’t have any luck explaining that to a toddler.

Pet Loss: Keeping the Secret of a Cremation Mistake

[Reviewed and updated November 21, 2022]

We dance round in a ring and suppose, but the secret sits in the middle and knows. ~ Robert Frost

A reader writes: I wonder if you could give me some advice. Recently our pet cat died and we decided to have her cremated so the ashes could be scattered in our garden. I have just learned from our vet who sent the cat to the crematorium that accidentally our cat was not labeled and was mass-cremated. It now leaves me with a dilemma as I know my partner will be distraught about this. Should I get another set of ashes (which my vet says they can supply) or should I tell her the truth? I honestly don’t know where to look for advice on this. I hope you can point me in the right direction. Thank you.

Understanding and Managing Grief, September 18 - September 24, 2011

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

• No closure for 9/11 survivors, instead change and remembering, http://goo.gl/guZN1 via @DrPriceMitchell

• Waiting for a Friend’s Funeral, http://bit.ly/qs4HUl by @friendgrief

• Free download! Death Studies on Predictors of Complicated Grief, http://bit.ly/nMUkCR from @ClinPsy via @routledgemh

• Lovely: Houston family transforms grief to help others with infant loss, http://ow.ly/6zW6G via @HouHospice

• Grief Songs: Music for a Grieving Heart. Great list of songs, http://ow.ly/6iUeC via @Selfhealingexpr

Understanding and Managing Grief, July 24 - July 30, 2011

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

• Why sometimes it's harder to receive than to give, http://dlvr.it/dHCXf via @ChelseaHanson

• Sitting Shiva: Jewish sacred 7-day mourning practice, http://ow.ly/5Q94I via @VillageMemorial

• How to enjoy a moment of relief from stress, http://bit.ly/oJPi8p by @BodyAwareGrief

• Grief and ice cream: Honesty is the best policy, http://wtim.es/oHUB0w via @WTCommunities

• On getting real with kids when illness and death come calling, http://t.co/Uyn58vL by @Annie_Fox