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Part 1: Intense Grief Is Normal and Often Necessary by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. I have been a grief counselor and educator for more than forty years, and that is the most common way in which people describe their early grief to me. They say: “I feel like I’m going crazy.” “I feel like I’m […]
Continue ReadingLisa and I created Aftertalk around one fundamental belief; that writing to a deceased loved one can help you cope with grief. Our belief in this is rooted in personal experience; Lisa came to it after the death of her father; I discovered therapeutic writing to a deceased loved one quite by accident when my wife of […]
Continue ReadingWhen I attended your training, I think you mentioned that the true “expert” is the mourner. Can you expand on this? Your memory is correct – I have always maintained that the true expert in grief is the mourner. I do believe there is a real difference between studying a mysterious body of knowledge surrounding […]
Continue Reading…Going Backward Before We Go Forward It was Soren Kierkegaard that wisely noted, “Life must be lived forward, but it can only be understood backwards.” As the 25th anniversary of the death of my father approaches this next month, I have found myself instinctively going backward. Backward to the days just prior to his […]
Continue Reading“I’ll Just Remember Them the Way They Were:” The Importance of Educating Families About Keeping the “Guest of Honor” Around for the Funeral I frequently have people say to me, “I’ll just remember them the way they were.” Of course, those of us in death care should not be surprised by this reflection: After all, […]
Continue ReadingThe Healing Canvas: Processing Grief Through Creative Expression Grief is not a straight line. It comes in waves—some you expect, others blindside you. One of the hardest parts about grief is how isolating and misunderstood it can feel. But creativity, in all its forms, can offer a bridge out of that emotional fog, helping you […]
Continue ReadingSorrow is a deep emotional experience. Caregivers particularly have a hard time dealing with the death of someone they have cared for. It is usual for caregivers who care for the elderly to develop strong bonds with the people they are caring for. They could be elderly people or someone unwell. Normally, if someone […]
Continue ReadingFather’s Day is coming, and we want to share one of the great musical tributes to fatherhood ever written, Dan Fogelberg’s Leader of the Band. There are two versions below. The first is a live performance of the song with an introduction by Fogelberg from an interview. The second is a version with the lyrics. […]
Continue Reading“As a person in grief I have been told that I need to “resolve” my grief. I was so relieved to read about your concept that we don’t really resolve our grief, but we can “reconcile” it. Can you describe the difference in this terminology?” As your question suggests, “reconcile” is the term I find […]
Continue ReadingImage via Freepik If you’re here, it likely means someone you care about is going through cancer treatment, and your home is about to become more than just a place to live — it’s about to become a sanctuary. Not in the “spa music and eucalyptus candles” kind of way, but a real space […]
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