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Healing after Murder

Posted on October 6, 2015 - by Mary Jane Cronin

At the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) conference, Dr. Gloria Horsley interviews Mary Jane Cronin, the author of November Mourning and someone who has personal experience with healing after murder. She works in hospice care, following the murder of her son Jeremy in 1998. Comfort and solace following her loss is what inspired her to work in hospice care. After his murder, she felt like she had nobody to turn to. She began journaling and writing letters to heaven. Cronin found support in online support communities. Following Jeremy’s trial, she found incredible support from victim advocate groups. Talking […]

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Beryl Kaminsky: Journaling to Cope with Grief

Posted on October 5, 2015 - by Beryl Kaminsky

Journaling can be a fantastic way to help you down your grieving path, and Beryl Kaminsky shares tips on how to journal from her own experience. As the author of Mending the Broken Heart: After Your Child Dies, Kaminsky shares with readers how she used journaling in her own healing process as a bereaved mother. She’s a counselor in Houston, Texas who specializes in working with the bereaved. She recommends to all of her clients that they journal about what they’re going through. It’s effective, affordable, but most people resist it. Everyone wants to feel better, but they also want […]

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Thomas Attig: Remembering

Posted on October 4, 2015 - by Thomas Attig

The author of How We Grieve: Relearning the World, Dr. Tom Attig, talks with the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) about remembering as a key part of the healing process. Wherever you turn, you miss your loved one. There are gifts, photos, mementos, food, music, places, and occasions. From family members to friends, even your own reflection can trigger a memory. Reminding you of your separation is incredibly painful. The first reminders occur only once, and fewer occur over time. However, you never stop having first encounters. Fresh pain can surprisingly be brought up even years later. Still, […]

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Empowering Bereaved Families

Posted on October 3, 2015 - by Alan Pedersen

Stacey Redmond joins the Open to Hope show to share her story about losing her son, Tim. He was killed during a stabbing at the Giants ballpark in San Francisco. Dr. Gloria Horsley and Alan Pedersen from The Compassionate Friends also welcome Lew Cox to the show, an advocate from Tacoma, Washington, who lost his daughter, Carmen and is now an expert in victim advocacy. Redmond was quickly engulfed in the stigma of losing a loved one to murder—a situation that makes many people uncomfortable, and ultimately results in the shunning of those who are grieving. Redmond’s son was killed […]

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Mary Rockefeller Morgan: Grieving the Loss of a Twin

Posted on October 2, 2015 - by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley

Losing a twin is a very unique grief, and one that Mary Rockefeller famously experienced in the 1960s. The disappearance of her brother at sea, with his body never being recovered, was one that made media headlines for weeks. On this episode, Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley interview Mary Morgan, a licensed psychotherapist who specializes in twin loss and sibling loss. Most recently, she’s focused on twins who lost a sibling in the 9/11 World Trade Center tragedy. Dr. Gloria Horsley lived in New York City in the 60s, and at the time Dr. Morgan (then Rockefeller) had a family […]

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Traumatic Loss: Dr Dale Larson

Posted on October 2, 2015 - by Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley

Dr. Dale Larson joins Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley to talk about the shocking loss of a child, particularly in an environment that’s supposed to be “safe” such as school or during an extracurricular activity. He specializes in traumatic loss and teaches at Santa Clara University. He was particularly in the headlines after the Newtown tragedy, and says that many bereaved people can just tell when someone will listen. Dr. Gloria Horsley has experienced that, having worked as a therapist for several years and having many people approach her simply because they want to share. Comments can seem like “uncaring […]

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Helpful Tips For Managing the Holidays For the Bereaved

Posted on October 1, 2015 - by Gloria Lintermans

While grieving, we go through many firsts as important dates come up on the calendar. Whether it’s the first anniversary, birthday or holiday, it’s good to have coping strategies in place to rely on to help us cope. The holidays can be a particularly difficult time. While we are used to being with our family members during this time, sadly, an important person in the family is missing. And while we take comfort in having family close-whom we depend on for support-often while in their midst we still feel sad or lost remembering past occasions and events because this time […]

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The Day I Lost My Oxygen…and How I Got It Back

Posted on October 1, 2015 - by Kim Niles

“I’m sorry, but there was nothing we could do…she’s gone,” the doctor stated in a professional tone of voice on that life-changing Thanksgiving morning. I felt as though my stomach and heart had been knocked out of me, then after the initial shock, as though I couldn’t breathe at all. It felt as though grief and life had knocked my breath out of me and took all of my oxygen away. I was only 19 when my 22 year-old sister, Melody, died on Thanksgiving Day, but I wasn’t new to grief. I had already experienced the devastating deaths of my […]

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Stillbirth: Coping With and Supporting Those Whose Babies Have Died

Posted on September 30, 2015 - by Gloria Horsley

Last month I wrote a blog for the Huffington Post discussing what to do with personal items and pictures after a loss. In response to this a reader commented that she had a stillbirth and wished she had kept more of the items she had prepared for her baby. I was moved by her comments and prior to booking our next Open to Hope cable television show I reviewed the articles and radio shows we have posted on stillbirth, but noted that we lacked a television show on the topic. In order to find a guest with expertise on this […]

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Remembering Izzy

Posted on September 30, 2015 - by Sue Trace Lawrence

It was a baby rat. Recently, after years of contemplating the possibility, I obtained two adult rats as pets. They were potentially to be used as live examples in the psychology classes I taught, and in a fun way—treats all around! A day after I received the rats, the previous owner informed me that one of the 5-month-old females “might” be pregnant. Two weeks later, that possibility became a reality. Ten baby rats emerged, and all were seemingly healthy and active. They were cute, to say the least. As they grew, it became obvious that one in the litter was […]

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