Category: Grief-Loss

A Widow’s Guide to Healing: Gentle Support and Advice for the First 5 Years

Look inside this book.
A Widow's Guide to Healing: Gentle Support and Advice for the First 5 Years by [Kristin Meekhof, James Windell]

By Kristin Meekhof, LCSW & James Windell. (2015)

From Amazon.com: “An inspiring, accessible, and empowering guide for how to navigate the unique grief and challenges of widowhood and create a hopeful future.

When Kristin Meekhof lost her husband to cancer, she discovered what all widows learn: the moment you lose your partner, you must make crucial decisions that will impact the rest of your life. But where do you begin when your world is suddenly turned upside down?

This inspiring book shows grieving widows what to expect in those difficult first five years, and how to deal with the challenges of expectantly losing a life partner, including:

  • Finances, estates, and medical bills
  • Single parenthood
  • Being a widow in the workplace
  • Navigating social situations by yourself

With Meekhof’s firsthand experience and gentle understanding, this book goes beyond shining comforting candle in the darkness of loss. It encourages them to tackle these tumultuous and painful first five years along with their grief, and moves to a more hopeful future.

Praise for A Widow’s Guide to Healing:

“A very valuable and practical guide for any woman who has lost her husband due to an untimely death. Kristin Meekhof’s journey is both inspiring and courageous and something we can all learn from.” —Dr. Deepak Chopra

“I’m proud of Kristin Meekhof, who has written this inspiring and insightful book to help guide widows through their grief. This book is by an Architect of Change, for all of us who must deal with grief.” — Maria Shriver”

Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief

By Joanne Cacciatore, PhD (Author), Jeffrey Rubin (Foreword). (2017)

From Amazon.com: “If you love, you will grieve—and nothing is more mysteriously central to becoming fully human. 

Foreword INDIES Award-Winner — Gold Medal for Self-Help

When a loved one dies, the pain of loss can feel unbearable—especially in the case of a traumatizing death that leaves us shouting, “NO!” with every fiber of our body. The process of grieving can feel wild and nonlinear—and often lasts for much longer than other people, the nonbereaved, tell us it should.

Organized into fifty-two short chapters, Bearing the Unbearable is a companion for life’s most difficult times, revealing how grief can open our hearts to connection, compassion, and the very essence of our shared humanity. Dr. Joanne Cacciatore—bereavement educator, researcher, Zen priest, and leading counselor in the field—accompanies us along the heartbreaking path of love, loss, and grief. Through moving stories of her encounters with grief over decades of supporting individuals, families, and communities—as well as her own experience with loss—Cacciatore opens a space to process, integrate, and deeply honor our grief.

Not just for the bereaved, Bearing the Unbearable will be required reading for grief counselors, therapists and social workers, clergy of all varieties, educators, academics, and medical professionals. Organized into fifty-two accessible and stand-alone chapters, this book is also perfect for being read aloud in support groups.”

How to Survive the Loss of a Parent: A Guide For Adults

How to Survive the Loss of a Parent: A Guide For Adults 

By Lois F. Akner (Author), Catherine Whitney (Contributor). (1994)

From Amazon.com: “Many people who usually function well are thrown for a loop when a parent dies. They’re surprised at the complex feelings of love, loss, anger, and guilt, and at the unresolved issues that emerge. Therapist Lois Akner explains why the loss of a parent is different from other losses and, using examples from her experience, shows how it is possible to work through the grief.

Anyone who is going through or trying to prepare for this natural, normal, inevitable loss will find How to Survive the Loss of a Parent a powerful, healing message.”

Healing the Adult Sibling’s Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas After Your Brother or Sister Dies (Healing Your Grieving Heart series)

By Alan D. Wolfelt, PhD. (2008)

From Amazon.com: “Compassionate and heartfelt, this collection offers 100 practical ideas to help understand and accept the passing of a sibling in order to practice self-healing. The principles of grief and mourning are clearly defined, accompanied by action-oriented tips for embracing bereavement. Whether a sibling has died as a young or older adult or the death was sudden or anticipated, this resource provides a healthy approach to dealing with the aftermath.”

We Don’t “move on” from Grief. We Move Forward With It

Nora McInerny

TEDWomen 2018

At Ted.com

In a talk that’s by turns heartbreaking and hilarious, writer and podcaster Nora McInerny shares her hard-earned wisdom about life and death. Her candid approach to something that will, let’s face it, affect us all, is as liberating as it is gut-wrenching. Most powerfully, she encourages us to shift how we approach grief. “A grieving person is going to laugh again and smile again,” she says. “They’re going to move forward. But that doesn’t mean that they’ve moved on.”

This talk was presented at an official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page.

Nora McInerny · Author, podcast host

Nora McInerny makes a living talking to people about life’s hardest moments.

Also check out her Podcast

Terrible, Thanks for Asking

Nora McInerny

Terrible, Thanks for Asking is the podcast where Nora McInerny asks regular people going through the worst life has to answer the question “How are you?” with honesty. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll listen whenever you get your podcasts.

The Human-Animal Bond and Grief, 1st Edition

by Laurel Lagoni & Carolyn Butler. (1994) 

From Amazon.com: “This text integrates theory, emprical research, clinical experience, and principles of application into a step-by-step approach to human-animal bond based client relations. The book provides veterinary professionals with the knowledge, skills, terminology and methodologies to help human clients cope with anxiety and grief from pet loss. Each chapter includes case studies, personal accounts describing both owners’ and veterinary professionals’ perspectives on pet loss, and specific intervention suggestions.”