“If you live each day as it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” — Steve Jobs For quite a few decades now, our culture has put on a pretty convincing show of whistling past the graveyard. Americans have long had high levels of assumed invulnerability. We pretended death didn’t exist. Starting in […]
How Death Makes Life Better by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Read More »
Q&A with Alan Wolfelt, Ph.D., director of the Center for Loss & Life Transition, death educator, grief counselor, author After a significant loss, it’s common for a person to feel like they’re going crazy. The sudden absence of a loved one is not only devastating but also disorienting. Alan Wolfelt, Ph.D., a leading death educator
A Healthy Path to Long-Term Healing Read More »
by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. I’ve become a fan of sunrises. Before COVID-19 changed all of our lives, my busy travel and teaching schedule had me hopping. Most mornings after I woke up, I went straight to work. I had a love-hate relationship with the adrenaline of stress. I was a slave to emails, itineraries,
Waking Up to Gratitude: AfterTalk Weekly Read More »
Solace and Care: What to Expect When a Loved One Enters Hospice Most of us shy away from the idea of mortality. People who enter hospice care typically have run out of treatment options and have difficult decisions to make about end-of-life care. Hospice is a sensitive, caring service dedicated to making clients as comfortable
Solace and Care: What to Expect When a Loved One Enters Hospice Read More »
by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. If you could go back in time and relive a special holiday, which one would you choose? Close your eyes for a moment and think about this holiday. Now, slowly, walk through this memory in your mind. What made it so special? What were the surroundings like? Who inhabits this
Healing Your Holiday Grief Read More »
Editor’s Note: Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, is a traditional Mexican holiday celebrated November 2. On this day, it is believed that the souls of the dead return to visit their living family members. Many people celebrate this day by visiting the graves of deceased loved ones and setting up altars
Day of the Dead and Mexican-American Funeral Service Rituals Read More »
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 I give up
How to cope with guilt and regrets and feel better over time by Linda Donovan Read More »
by Beau Peters Losing a loved one is never easy and we all deal with grief in our own ways. However, teens can have an even harder time navigating their emotions during grief because teen years are already tumultuous and fraught with change that can cause stress and anxiety. The specifics surrounding the event
Navigating Grief: How to Help a Teen Cope with a Peer’s Death by Suicide Read More »
by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. “Anger is like flowing water; there’s nothing wrong with it as long as you let it flow. Hate is like stagnant water—anger that you denied yourself the freedom to feel. Allow yourself to feel anger, allow your waters to flow… Be human.” ― C. JoyBell C. If you’re feeling
Understanding the Anger of Grief Read More »
Learning to Have Fun Again After a Loss It’s hard to imagine life ever being “normal” again after a loss of someone you love. You might feel stuck, or as though you can’t move forward or go on without them. While it’s essential to work through the stages of grief on your own timeline, one
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