Open to Hope Articles
Do you want to read stories of others who have been where you are? Are you looking for bereavement help, and advice? Look no further. We offer over 3,000 articles written by our Open to Hope authors.
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Dale Larsen Ph.D.: Facing Grief and Loss
August 20, 2015
Dale G. Larson, Ph.D., is the bereaved sibling of Dickie and a Professor of Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University. He is a Fulbright Scholar, a Fellow in the American Psychological Association, and author of the award-winning book, The Helper’s Journey: Working With People Facing Grief, Loss, and Life-Threatening Illness His clinical practice focuses on assisting individuals and families confronting grief and life-limiting illness. https://media.blubrry.com/open_to_hope_1/audio.opentohope.com/OTH_DaleLarsen.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Adult Sibling Loss with Dr. Brenda Marshall
August 15, 2015
Dr. Brenda Marshall talks about adult sibling loss with Dr. Heidi Horsley at the 2015 Association for Death Education and Counseling conference. Dr. Marshall entered the field when her younger brother, Brent, died suddenly eight years ago. She found little support for adult siblings, which led her on a path to figuring out why this was and what she could do about it. “A lot of people take their sibling for granted and assume they’re always going to be there,” she says. Especially when siblings are close in age, many people think death won’t touch them. Not only does the […]
Sibling Loss and The Compassionate Friends with Stephen Stott
August 9, 2015
Stephen Stott, a Columbia University graduate and one of Dr. Heidi Horsley’s former students, is in the field of sibling loss after losing his own sister in 2002. Stott’s mother started attending The Compassionate Friends meetings immediately, but it took Stott over a decade to join. His mother asked if he felt comfortable going, and for the first time since his sister died, he said yes. “I think the experience was great, but I was nervous,” he says. He didn’t know what to expect, he didn’t know the people, but found it was helpful to be around people who had […]
Molly Gandour: A documentary called Peanut Gallery
August 5, 2015
Molly Gandour created Peanut Gallery, a documentary that addressed her sister’s death and the silence that ensued. Only recently did Gandour and her parents begin talking about the death. She shares her story with Dr. Heidi Horsley during the 2015 Association for Death Education and Counseling conference. Her sister died when Gandour was ten, and it wasn’t until she was an adult that the subject was breached. She returned to India to start this conversation. “It really captures how difficult it is to have these conversations,” says Dr. Horsley. Gandour’s sister had leukemia for as long as she can remember, […]
Webinar: ‘Am I Still a Sibling?’
July 25, 2015
A special hour-long webinar from the Open to Hope foundation, the Death of a Sibling, features Alicia “Allie” Sims Franklin, LICSW and the big sister of Austin along with Tracy Milne, the big sister of Andrew. Both women lost a sibling and understand there’s a unique kind of lifelong loss that occurs in these situations. Dr. Heidi Horsley of the Open to Hope foundation and the President of The Compassionate Friends Alan Pedersen lead the discussion. Milne is also a member of The Compassionate Friends, serving as the Sibling Representative. Today, Franklin works as a grief counseling specialist, bringing her […]
What Loss Has Taught Me: Everybody’s on the Tightrope
July 7, 2015
The other day, I went out running to clear my head, something I often do in a continuing quest to manage my grief over the loss of my brother a year ago. I had my iPod on a random shuffle. Janelle Monáe’s song, “Tightrope,” came on after I had gone about a mile and a half, and some of the lyrics found a newly-cleared corner of my brain and lodged there. Whether you’re high or low Baby whether you’re high or low You got to tip on the tightrope As I wondered why these words stuck with me, I realized […]
Keeping Lost Siblings In Your Heart
February 8, 2015
I am a sister who sadly lost both my sisters. Although I will permanently have a hole in my heart, I am learning to embrace my beloved sisters to encompass an important place in my life. My sisters Margie and Jane are forever part of me, who I am, past, present and future. My heart is opening, and I am welcoming my sisters back into my heart where they truly belong. I suppressed the grief of my beloved sisters for 30 years. In looking at pictures of my beloved sisters and me, I try to recall the beautiful memories of […]
Denial and Disbelief in Grieving
January 23, 2015
I was in denial from the first moment. And for a while thereafter. On a sunny Saturday in June, I had just finished a mud run with my son, and we were walking back to our car in late morning, covered with mud and laughing. My husband called my cell, from our home phone, I assumed, since as far as I knew, he was home with our other two children. I answered, and he said, “Where are you?” When I told him I was heading to the car, he said no, he needed to know exactly where I was located […]
Episode 39: Finding Hope After Multiple Deaths
January 14, 2015
On this show Dr. Gloria Horsley and Dr. Heidi Horsley interview Jill Kraft Thompson an amazing woman who has re-built her life after losing five people she loved the most. She survived the car crash that killed five members of her family – her husband Bart, her two sons, Ben and Sam, her mom and her niece, Sarah. She is the author of “Finding Jill”. Richard Beck Ph.D. and trauma expert gives his thoughts on trauma recovery. The show will closes with singer songwriter Paul Alexander singing “Light a Candle”.
