Loss by Suicide
Suicide is Complicated This past weekend was a deeply heavy weekend for young families. As some of you may know, I serve as a Chaplain for our local fire and police departments and the families that are impacted by a tragedy. I feel there is a deep need to speak to a complicated topic. This […]
Helping a Suicide Survivor Heal
Helping a Suicide Survivor Heal by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Historian Arnold Toynbee once wrote, “There are always two parties to a death; the person who dies and the survivors who are bereaved.” Unfortunately, many survivors of suicide suffer alone and in silence. The silence that surrounds them often complicates the healing that comes from […]
Helping Parents with Loss – Looking At Myth 6 – Corporate Grief and Grief in the Classroom
Corporate Grief and Grief in the Classroom When working in Corporate America, let’s say you fall down and suffer a severely broken arm. You might get four to six weeks off work with disability pay. What happens when your mom dies, or your husband, or brother, or child? Nationally accepted average of time off What […]
Helping Parents with Loss – Looking At Myth 6 – Time Heals all Wounds
Myth 6 – Time Heals all Wounds This might be the single most dramatically inaccurate piece of mis-information that has been imposed on all of us. Like most false beliefs, this idea has a partial basis in reality. Recovery from loss and completion of emotional pain do happen within a framework of time. However, there […]
Grief and Recovery – Is it Possible? Yes!
Grief and Recovery Is this the first time you have seen these two expressions together? In modern life, moving through intense emotional pain has become such a misunderstood process that most of us have very little idea of how to respond to loss. Have you ever wondered, what does recovery from grief look like? Recovery […]
Helping Parents Helping Children with Loss – Looking At Myth 5 – Heard at Last
Heard at Last This story is about a nine-year-old girl, Brianna, and the time she felt heard by John James, the author of the book – When Children Grieve. John had been invited to use his experience with a well-known producer and a well-known director in a film project they were doing. they met at […]
Helping Parents Helping Children with Loss – Looking At Myth 5 – Keep Busy
Myth 5 – Keep Busy Let’s return to the mom from our first story – Monkey see Monkey do. This time it relates to her five-year-old daughter. This brings us to another loss- related myth. Well-meaning family and friends had advised the mom to keep busy. Mom had become a beehive of activity. She scheduled […]
Helping Parents Helping Children with Loss – Looking At Myth 4 – Be Strong
Looking At Myth 4 – Be Strong The article, Monkey see Monkey do opened with the statement – “My son’s father died, and I want to know how to help him.” the time has come to return to that story. The mom in our story was a loving mom. She wanted only the best for […]
Helping Parents Helping Children with Loss – Great news – Different Beliefs Produce better Results for Children
Great News – Different Beliefs Produce Better Results for Children So far we have taken a detailed look at three major myths and have discussed how they can have a lifelong negative impact on children and on their future as adults and parents. Now we want to take a look at the short-term and long-term […]
Helping Parents Helping Children with Loss – Why do people Grieve Alone
Why do people Grieve Alone People grieve alone because they are afraid of being judged or criticized for having the feelings they are having. Remember our first myth: Don’t feel bad. this admonition suggests that we are somehow defective if we feel bad at all or if the feeling continues for more than a moment. […]