Grief and loss make anyone feel helpless. For parents, watching their child grieve can be one of the most painful experiences. A few thoughts are offered on how to best support your teen when they experience grief and loss.
Community Trauma: How the Events in Ferguson Touch Us All
The events in Ferguson are traumatic not only for his family but for the community at large. It’s important to recognize the effect it can have on all of us.
Shame or Guilt: The Effects
In the first part of this series, we talked about distinguishing the differences between true guilt, false guilt, and shame. Now, let’s look at the effects of shame and guilt and how to overcome them.
Weathering An Emotional Storm: You Have Choices
I use the term “emotional storm” metaphorically to represent times of emotional crisis in your life where you need to seek shelter in safety, connection with others, love and calmness, not just a physical shelter. An “emotional storm” can arise suddenly and consist of intense fear, chaos, anger, and a sense of unknowing.
Learning to Grieve Your Loss
By the age of forty, most people have experienced some form of loss at least fifteen times. The journey takes courage. Grief is not an easy path to negotiate and simply taking the next step forward is often fraught with overwhelming feelings. Is recovery from loss possible? Yes – although the definition of recovery may need some explanation.
Hope After a Heartbreak
It’s been said, “Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it’s better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting it back together.” Making this choice leaves a person heartbroken in many instances. Most of us have experienced this at least once in our lives.
Coping With Infertility During the Holidays
The holidays are a difficult time when you’re in the midst of dealing with infertility. Everywhere you turn, there are children and families enjoying Santa and gifts and celebrations. If you are longing to be a parent, your grief may be triggered as your inability to do so may become more pronounced. This complicates the grieving process that is already built into infertility and the treatment journey.
Surviving the Holiday Blues
Many people face the holiday season with fear or anguish. There are a variety of reasons why we feel sad during the holidays. Taking time to reflect on the source of the sadness may be the first and most helpful step. Sometimes so many changes have taken place over the course of the year that feeling blue is a normal response to the events.
After a Miscarriage: Suffering in Silence
For many individuals and couples, there is a shroud of secrecy around pregnancy, especially in the first trimester. For those struggling with infertility, this becomes an incredibly sensitive time in their lives. Unfortunately, most miscarriages take place in the first trimester, and for those grieving this overwhelming loss, it can be a very lonely time.
