Gloria Horsley

Dr. Gloria Horsley is an internationally known grief expert, psychotherapist, and bereaved parent. She started "Open to Hope" to help the millions in the world with grief. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Clinical Nurse Specialist, and has worked in the field of family therapy for over 20 years. Dr. Horsley hosts the syndicated internet radio show, The Grief Blog which is one of the top ranked shows on Health Voice America. She serves the Compassionate Friends in a number of roles including as a Board of Directors, chapter leader, workshop facilitator, and frequently serves as media spokesperson. Dr. Horsley is often called on to present seminars throughout the country. She has made appearances on numerous television and radio programs including "The Today Show," "Montel Williams," and "Sallie Jessie Raphael." In addition, she has authored a number of articles and written several books including Teen Grief Relief with Dr. Heidi Horlsey, and The In-Law Survival Guide.

Articles:

Tips For Handling Grief During the Holidays

Grief hits at the most unexpected times. However, the holidays are a known time when grief comes back like a weight, pushing down on those who have lost children, siblings, parents, and other loved ones. It can become even more difficult when that lost loved one really loved Christmas. However, there are some tips that can help you handle the holidays and find the joy in these celebrations for yourself, your family, and even for your lost loved one. Recently, in the above video, my daughter, Heidi, and Debbie Rambis, Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends, shared our own experiences […]

The Vocabulary of Grief

When you’ve lost a child, it can sometimes feel like you’re speaking a different language than everyone else. People ask vague questions like “How are you doing?” or “Is there anything I can do to help?” They mean well, but people often work hard to avoid acknowledging the elephant in the room. Terms like loss and death are hard for most of us to say, and they create an awkward catch-22. Not acknowledging a deep loss a person is despairing over can appear insensitive, but mentioning it — making it real again — can introduce a melancholy tone to a […]

You’ll Never Get Over It

In working with hundreds of grieving families over the years, I’ve witnessed how hope survives even the cruelest losses. Parents who have lost a child hope to live a life their child would be proud of; they hope to find ways to honor their child’s memory or prevent another family from enduring such a loss. They hope to find a way back to normal, or to at least establish a new “normal.” But I’ve also heard people hope for the day they would “get over it.” Sometimes uttered by people who have closed themselves off to their own feelings, this […]

Jason Stout: Outward Bound

Many members of Open to Hope have attended Outward Bound’s (aptly named) outdoor sessions, including the Executive Director Gloria’s Horsley’s late son, Scott. Jason Stout has been a part of Outward Bound for years, and recently spoke with Dr. Horsley about why wilderness experiences are so helpful and critical for those in the grieving process. Stout isn’t just a leader at Outward Bound going on 15 years, but also an alumnus. “I attended a seven day Outward Bound course and then an 80 day course,” he shares. “It was life changing for me and had a huge impact on my […]

Candice Courtney: Rituals

“Ritual is so important, it supports us throughout our lives” including when there is a death in the family, says Candice Courtney of Scottsdale, Arizona, the author of Healing Through Illness, Living Through Dying. She recently spoke with Dr. Gloria Horsley of the Open to Hope Foundation during the 2015 annual Association of Death Education and Counseling Conference. Rituals are so ingrained into the human experience that many people don’t realize they’re participating in rituals—whether they’re cultural, religious or otherwise prescribed. Some people even create their own rituals without realizing it. Dr. Horsley has a particular interest in rituals, having […]

Darwin Huartson: Hospice

Darwin Huartson is part of the VITAS Innovative Hospice Care team in San Antonio, Texas, and spoke recently with Dr. Gloria Horsley about the role of hospice care—as well as many of the myths surrounding it. He’s a bereavement services manager and has been working with VITAS for 18 years. For years hospices served a niche community, but in recent years grief experts in general have come to understand that hospices can and should play a bigger role in the bereavement process. Like many hospices, a big part of the VITAS mission statement is to best serve their clients, but […]

Dr. Anasuya Tegathesan: Multicultural Counseling

Open to Hope Foundation’s Dr. Heidi Horsley spoke with Dr. Anasuya Tegathesan, a Senior Lecturer at Hope University in Malaysia, about the intricacies of multicultural counseling. She concurrently supervises master’s students and also provides counseling for a number of clinics and NGOs around the world. As part of the Hope University program, Dr. Tegathesan oversees “therapists in training” as they provide complimentary counseling to other students on the campus as well as clients of non-profits who cannot afford counseling. “Culturally, do you see differences in the way people grieve?” asked Dr. Horsley. “Grief is a universal phenomenon—everybody grieves,” says Dr. […]

Cara Grosset: Getting Teens the Support They Need

A clinical social worker from Ontario, Canada, Cara Grosset found time to connect with Dr. Gloria Horsley during the 2015 Association on Death Education and Counseling conference to discuss bereaved families. She has been a member of the Bereaved Families of Ontario for over 25 years, has a private practice and is a staff member at Wilfrid Laurier University. Grosset specializes in working with children, teens and young adults. She’s a strong believer that this age group has a strong need to talk to each other. They need to be shown they’re not alone, and their loved ones need the […]

Patricia Therese: Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria

As the first Bereavement Consultant for the Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria, established under the archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia, Therese attended the 2015 Association of Death Education and Counseling where she spoke with Dr. Gloria Horsley about her work and this new position in the church. Therese’s experience with bereaved families stretches back decades, starting when she was just 18 and worked in a hospice. “I was immersed in how to really care for the dying and bereaved there,” she says. Under the tutelage of nuns, she was taught that no one should die alone and has carried […]

Why Do Therapists Warn the Bereaved that they Will Divorce?

Dr. Gloria Horsley responds: You got me. I have been a therapist for many years and have repeatedly been told that, parents who lose children divorce. Let’s see, Phil and I have been married for over forty years and it has been over twenty since our son was killed. Memories of our dear Scott seem to bring us closer rather than driving us apart. That is not to say we didn’t have our down times. I remember on Scott’s eighteenth birthday, I had a pizza party for all of his friends.? I had about twenty kids in the house and […]

Open to Hope is an online community offering inspirational stories of loss, hope and recovery. We believe hope is the bridge between loss and recovery.