Acceptance doesn't mean resignation; it means understanding that something is what it is and that there's got to be a way through it. ~ Michael J. Fox A reader writes: This just isn’t something I can live with. I want to see my dad more than anything in the world. I can’t even go near the words “closure” or “accept.” My friend, who never lost anyone, even a pet, in her life, told me in a matter-of-fact, cheery voice, “You gotta get over it, right? Pick yourself up. Go out and live life. Your dad would have wanted you to be out there, I bet.” I almost hung up on her. I know she meant ..read more

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week: A pediatric clinician shares the rewards and challenges of working with terminally ill children and their families. Terminally Ill Pediatric Patients and the Grieving Therapist « Psychotherapy.net CLICK HERE TO READ MORE>>> ..read more

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week: A recent study described subjective paranormal experiences with dead pets among 544 bereaved dog owners. These ghostly encounters took many forms and were almost always viewed as positive experiences. These paranormal experiences may help pet lovers deal with disenfranchised grief. Have You Ever Encountered the Ghost of a Deceased Pet? « Psychology Today CLICK HERE TO READ MORE>>> ..read more

I question whether experiences of such severe loss can be quantified and compared.  Loss is loss, whatever the circumstances.  All losses are bad, only bad in different ways.  No two losses are ever the same.  Each loss stands on its own and inflicts a unique kind of pain.  What makes each loss so catastrophic is its devastating, cumulative, and irreversible nature . . . So whose loss is worse, hers or mine?  It is impossible to give an answer.  Both are bad, but bad in different ways.  ~ Jerry Sittser in A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows throu ..read more

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week: A new sense of urgency has emerged for healthcare organizations to develop "sustainable and accessible bereavement care" and to cultivate a "bereavement-conscious" workforce to position bereavement as an "inherent element of the duty of care," authors of a recent opinion piece asserted. Incorporating Bereavement Into the Continuum of Care « MedPage Today CLICK HERE TO READ MORE>>> ..read more

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week: Meghan Riordan Jarvis, a trauma-informed grief expert who specializes in how grief affects the body, told me that because the death of a loved one is a completely novel experience, it is "very energetically expensive." She confirmed that grief can impair our balance as well as memory and our ability to do multistep functions. Can grief make us accident-prone? « KLCC CLICK HERE TO READ MORE>>> ..read more

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.  ~ Friedrich NietzscheIt is difficult to imagine surviving grief much less transcending it. How do we triumph over sorrow when it seems as if our pain will never end? CLICK HERE TO READ MORE>>> ..read more

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week: When people talk about managing grief, often this involves grieving for someone who’s already passed. However, there are times when a loved one may be approaching the end of their life, perhaps due to an illness or age. In this situation, some find that they have already begun experiencing aspects of grief. Strategies for Preparing and Coping with Imminent Loss « AfterTalk CLICK HERE TO READ MORE>>> ..read more

There’s no love like a lost love and no pain like a broken heart.  ~ Ben Harper A reader writes: My girlfriend and I got pregnant about two months ago. She went and took the abortion pill yesterday. I begged her not to, to marry me and have this child. But she said no. She doesn't want to be in a relationship with me anymore. I am grieiving not only the loss of our possible child together, but the loss of our possible life together. I'm not even sure where to begin, but I still can't believe that she actually went through with it.  CLICK HERE TO READ MORE>>> ..read more

Best selections from Grief Healing's X feed this week: Asking yourself about the grief process and overdoing this work is a great insight that is always good to examine. I hadn’t thought of the possibility of working so hard at grief that it could be a distraction from stepping into life, but it makes great sense and is a profound insight. The importance of taking time for 'recess' in the grief process « Taos News CLICK HERE TO READ MORE>>> ..read more