I Am A Griever

Kate – Things I do that help

Kate talks about how art, hiking and visiting the cemetery can be very therapeutic

Finding Joy During the Holidays After Loss When Everything Feels Awful: A message of hope.

My mother died in the middle of the night on January 1, four days before I turned sixteen. I don’t remember much about Christmas the couple weeks before she died, just that we spent a lot of that season in the ICU of the hospital where my mother had birthed my brother and I. For…

John – Empower yourself

John shares his thoughts about how to support someone in grief and his processes

Jessica M – Finding Hope

Jessica shares memories of her brothers birthday which was just before her mothers death and how they all found hope

Kate – Advice to my younger self

Kate explains things being authentic and honest to herself has been very valuable

The ties that bind; grieving the loss of a sibling

When my three brothers and I were growing up and the proverbial hit the fan, Mum would often say, in a bid to keep her brood calm, ‘Well, at least we are all still here.’ She reminded me of this affectionate saying only very recently. I can still recall how I felt as a child…

Joyce – Being gentle on yourself

Joyce explains the importance of being gentle on yourself in grief as you face guilt and should haves

Jessica M – Continuing Bonds

Jessica talks about the values of continuing bonds and connections with people who are not here anymore. She gives some examples of things that have made her more connected to her Mom.

Left Out: Enfranchising Children’s Grief and Loss

By: Jessica Milette, MSW, RSW All human beings have the capacity to grieve: people with intellectual disabilities, those living with a traumatic brain injury, and children of all ages. However, many people can experience disenfranchised grief when someone dies. Disenfranchised grief is generally grief that is not usually openly acknowledged, socially accepted or publicly mourned.…

Kristal – Activism To Ease Anger and Grief

Kristal discusses using activism to help ease or channel her anger from the loss of those in her community to drug poisoning. She talks about her grief being very quiet and inward before, but that taking action helps her to move through it. She discusses how there may not be peace from these losses, but the goal should rather be feeling safe in the emotions.

Kate – Triggers

Kate discusses how she deals with her emotions when something triggers her grief

Practicing Self Compassion while Grieving

Grief is messy, confusing, enormously painful, and never seems to follow a linear path. This is when we need to take care of ourselves deeply, and yet, why is it that this is also when we beat ourselves up the most? We are good at being compassionate toward others when they are grieving — something…