by Rebecca Hensler, Founder of Grief Beyond Belief Many Grieving Person’s Bills of Rights are now available on the internet, usually modified from The Mourners Person’s Bill of Rights by Alan D. Wolfelt, PhD, Director of the Center for Loss and Life Transition. One thing the various versions have in common is a passage that […]
By Rebecca Hensler It’s that season again. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year…” sings the supermarket loudspeaker, describing, “everyone telling you be of good cheer.” As if that’s a good thing. As if it’s okay to tell us how we should be feeling, just because of the season. At Grief Beyond Belief, the […]
by Adam Durnham My mother died more than three years ago. I’m almost embarrassed to say that most days, I don’t even think about it. It’s not even that I don’t think about her death. I just don’t think about her at all. I go on with my own life, carving out my career path, […]
By Jacob S. Sawyer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology at Penn State Mont Alto Many wonder if they are grieving the “right” way. This can be especially true for those who believe in a linear, stage model of grief. The most well known example of this is likely the Kübler-Ross model, which begins with denial […]
by Rebecca Hensler [Content notes: The following entry involves discussion of suicidal ideation, suicide prevention, and a death by suicide, all in the context of grief. As always at Grief Beyond Belief, please keep comments free of religious or spiritual content.] The following is entirely the personal thoughts of the author, except where cited through […]
By Rebecca Hensler, Founder of Grief Beyond Belief For a while you just feel broken. Like grief just cracked you open. Maybe it happened all at once, like an explosion that blasted you from whole to shrapnel in one moment. Or maybe it started with a hairline fracture that spread until you split. You feel […]
An anonymous member of the closed Grief Beyond Belief Group at Facebook has generously allowed us to publish this beautiful and insightful guess post: The 18th of this month will mark one year since my mother died. Here are some thoughts I’ve gathered and wanted to share with everyone in this group. They could be missing […]
A member of our community wrote to the Grief Beyond Belief Facebook page: My mother has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. I have a three year old son who is very close to her. Does anyone know of any non-religious resources to help small children deal with grief? It isn’t easy, and sometimes even people […]
Why is it that my grief seems to give people permission to invade my personal space? A total stranger and I are talking about our work, the way strangers do. We are on the patio at a club, and we’ve both had a few drinks, so the conversation is a little less coherent and a little more […]
Sarah Parmenter’s blog entry, “The Things Nobody Tells You About Grief,” is so damn full of good advice. If you have recently experienced a loss and are at the beginning of your “grief journey,” this essay is for you. There is so much that those of us who have lived through the first few years of […]
