Hurting and in pain and looking for hope? In times of bereavement watch, read and listen to stories of hope and recovery.
In Search of Healthy Grieving I wanted to experience “healthy grieving.” These words often appear in grief articles and books. Did healthy grieving mean sobbing like crazy, being confused, or […]
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So how do you know if you’re making progress on this messy journey called grief? I remember going through seasons where a trigger would wipe me out or tears would […]
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During the intense period after the loss of my favorite people, many questions ran through my mind. These are questions you might ask in your pain. Will the tsunami of […]
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After months of trying to outrun the ache and sprint toward some imaginary silver lining, I realized that running from the pain can leave you crushed, lonely, and confused. In […]
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Have you ever gotten news that literally took your breath away? I surely have. It was the late-night call that my mom—my healthy, hilarious, newlywed mom—was gone. Nobody could have […]
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Writing Helps Bereaved Whenever you set out to write a book, an important first step is clearly defining your audience. When I started dreaming about Uncrushed, I assumed it would […]
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Circle Up for Healing According to the well-known Western European myth of Camelot, King Arthur gathered his knights at a circular table. He chose that particular table configuration to foster […]
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‘Soul Senses’ Can Help with Grief The soul senses are the primary means by which we are able to apply the principles of love, connection, and trust. We need the […]
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Preparing for Your Winter of Grief In Vermont where I live, the change of seasons brings a significant shift of feeling and sensation. The sounds change as birds migrate, cicadas’ […]
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After losing two children, Carolyn and Matthew, and then having two more children, Kim and Danny, my wife explained a recent experience. Holding Child After Death She said: “The other […]
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Losing Mom as a Teen I was only 18 when my mother succumbed to pancreatic cancer. However, in the following two decades, I persistently avoided the profound pain of being […]
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In recent months, I have been struggling with what I have come to see as a different stage of my grief journey. I wrote about that challenge in my last […]
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Dreams Can Help the Grieving Process I began preparing myself for my mother’s death a long time ago, even before she came to live in our community so that we […]
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Dating After a Spouse-Loss Our society has so many expectations for us after our spouse has died. We should grieve—depending on the expectations of our friends, religious traditions, or workplace […]
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Finding Authenticity Through Grief Seven years ago, I embarked on a journey that would redefine the very essence of who I was. Becoming a solo mom after a lifetime spent […]
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Grief Has Many Emotions With my mother gone and my father gone, I often felt abandoned. I’d look around and notice other families. Families that seemed happy. But seeing them […]
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Knowledge of Our Mortality Sometimes they are nudges. Other times, pokes. More rarely, thankfully, they are punches in the gut. Most often, I think of them as “mortality slaps.” Whatever […]
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Lessons from Wild Boy He was a toddler who played with plastic dinosaurs, Tonka trucks, and dirt. His older sister made me feel like an accomplished mama because whenever I […]
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“It is, in the end, the saving of lives we writers are about. We do it because we care. We care because we know this: the life we save is […]
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Tasks of Mourning Psychologist Dr. William Worden’s four tasks of mourning give grounding to much of grief research today. Worden saw mourning as the outward expression of grief. The tasks […]
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Making Sense of Grief Through Mindful Writing One way to address grief-filled paradigm change and transition is to engage in mindful writing exercises. Telling one’s story mindfully means sharing it […]
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Cascade of Losses One July day, just ten days after his twentieth wedding anniversary and two days before his oldest child’s eighteenth birthday, my brother fell from the sky. I […]
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There are many types of losses. Two that occur often in the workplace are loss of a parent and loss of a child. Here are some thoughts about these two […]
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What to Say to a Family After Suicide The death of a loved one is a catastrophic loss, but when a loved one has taken his or her own life, […]
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Helping Co-workers After a Loss Grief is a major workplace challenge—even without pandemic conditions. Bereavement experts (see Bento, 1994, for example) have seen workplace grief as “disenfranchised” insofar as the […]
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Grieving the loss of your loved one does not mean that you have lost your faith or gone astray. Deep grief means you loved deeply, and that is not a […]
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Father’s Day After a Daughter Has Died Father’s Day in our house is a mixed blessing. Even though some of our six children and 13 grandchildren will come to celebrate, […]
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Mom and Dad Grieve Differently The death of a child is a devastating loss for anyone; it is even more difficult for a marriage. For the marriage to survive, both […]
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Embracing Mother’s Day without Mom Losing my mother is one of the hardest things I have gone through. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. That day, I […]
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There are so many things to enjoy about life. Hand in hand with this enjoyment is the fact that there will sometimes be tough periods in life. These periods will […]
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Recent discussions of whether California Senator Dianne Feinstein should retire ignore one of the most important elements that affect decisions about retiring: The willingness to assume a new identity. Identity […]
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Grieving Moms on Mother’s Day Happy Mother’s Day Month to all the mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers. I want to acknowledge and show compassion to those who have lost a […]
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People living with the loss of a significant relationship often find themselves buried beneath avalanches of advice and information. Additionally, when we suffer, we tend to seek out material that […]
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Does Everything Happen For a Reason? Somewhere in adolescence, certainly before young adulthood, I heard the saying, “everything happens for a reason.” It seems like I’ve always known this phrase. […]
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Join Dr. Gloria Horsley and her fiancé Dr. Frank Powers AKA Golden Dating Doctors for an interview with widow Joan, a contestant on ABC’s Golden Bachelor, discussing her experiences and […]
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Feeling like your grief is not validated? Join Dr’s Heidi and Gloria Horsley and their guest Dana Lerner LCSW psychotherapist and bereaved mother of Cooper for a unique perspective on […]
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Are you or someone you know looking for support for a loss due to substance use? Join Dr. Heidi Horsley and Rebecca Horsley Bara and their guest Laura Vargas to […]
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Maggie Bauer is Christopher’s little sister. He died by suicide, August of 2012. Due to the loss, she has been involved with her local grieving community for 8 years giving […]
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Sharon Siler, at the 44th annual conference for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Sharon-Siler-Where-is-God-when-Im-Grieving.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Dr. Beth Hewett, at the 44th annual conference for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Dr.-Beth-Hewett-Tips-for-Grievers.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Dr. Jill Harrington and Alex LaMorie, mother/son team, at the 44th annual conference for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Dr.-Jill-Harrington-and-Alex-LaMorie-Autism-and-Grief.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Dr. Andy Ho, current President of ADEC speaks at the 44th annual conference for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Dr.-Andy-Ho-Mindfulness-Compassion-in-End-of-Life.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Marnix Reijmerink, at the 44th annual conference for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Marnix-Reijmerink-Hoop-geven-aan-anderen-in-tijden-van-verlies.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Marnix Reijmerink, at the 44th annual conference for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Marnix-Reijmerink-Giving-Hope-to-Others-in-Times-of-Loss.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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How can you live beside your pain? Join Dr’s Gloria and Heidi Horsley and their guest Sarah Miller, bereaved mom of Maddy, Royal Air Force veteran, Physical Therapist Assistant, and […]
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Looking for grief support and information? Join Dr’s Gloria and Heidi Horsley and their guest Brennan Wood Executive Director of Dougy Center: The National Grief Center for Children & Families […]
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Sarah Vollmann, at the 44th annual conference for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Sarah-Vollmann-Healing-Through-Art-Therapy.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Brent Birkhoff, at the 44th annual conference for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC). https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/www.opentohope.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Brent-Birkhoff-Grief-Support.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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Are you suffering from anxiety and fear and looking for calm? Join Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley and their guest Roger Hutchison author, illustrator, to learn techniques for resetting […]
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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.
