FEATURED STORIES
Recent Stories
by Linda Donovan How to cope with guilt and regrets and feel better over time: Feeling guilty and having regrets can happen before and after a loss. This is where the if-only and what-if statements are common. You may try unsuccessfully and illogically to bargain with a higher power, by saying out loud, “What if […]
by Melissa Howard Editor’s note: this piece is written by the founder of Stop Suicide (www.stopsuicide.info). Studies have shown that bereavement is associated with impaired mental health, increases in adverse health behaviors, and heightened risk of suicidal ideation, attempts, and death by suicide. For example, parental death in childhood is associated with an increased long-term risk […]
When a beloved pet dies, the loss doesn’t just leave silence in a room—it rearranges the emotional structure of a life. These companions are not just animals; they are routines, instincts, personalities with timing and mood. They are the glance that breaks your tension and the warmth you forget you’re carrying. So when they’re […]
FIVE MINUTES TO LIVE is a famous sermon given by Rabbi Kenneth Berger on Yom Kippur day in the fall of 1986. It was inspired by the crash of the Challenger space shuttle on January 28, 1986 and the subsequent revelation that the crew had likely survived the explosion and lived for another five minutes […]
Part 6: Living and Grieving Together by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. In the early days after the death of someone you love dearly, it’s normal for this step to seem like a ridiculous impossibility. You feel so raw and torn apart, you can’t imagine surviving, let alone returning to any semblance of “normal life.” But […]
By Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. We as a nation will never be “done” mourning the loss of 2,977 lives lost during the attack on September 11, 2001. On that Tuesday morning at the World Trade Center in New York, more than 2,700 people died, among them over two thousand people working at the Twin Towers, […]
Part 5: Embracing Your Spirituality Helps You Survive by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. In early grief, existential questions tend to naturally arise. Why did the person have to die? Why now? Why in this way? Why does anyone live and die? Why are we here? I often say “why” questions naturally precede “how” questions. […]
Part 4: Telling Your Stories Helps You Survive by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Telling your stories of love and loss helps you survive. The more you allow yourself to tell your stories, the more you will be helping yourself embark on a healthy path to integrating loss into your life. Going Backward Before Forward Since […]
Part 3: Acknowledging the Illusion of Control by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Death naturally throws thoughts, feelings, and behaviors into disarray. Nothing may feel “normal” right now. Your routines and schedules might be chaotic. You may often find yourself surprised at things you think, say, or do. Small things that you used to take in […]
Part 2: It’s Important for You to Feel Safe and Comforted by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Have you felt stressed, anxious, fearful, agitated, panicked, worried, or uneasy since the death? I’m not sure grief is possible without these feelings. As author C.S. Lewis wrote after his 45-year-old wife died of cancer, “No one ever told me […]
