Grief and Loss
Support facing suicide
I am currently in Visalia, California, to attend and speak at the National Team Loss Conference. If you are not aware of the Team Loss concept, it is a postvention program for suicide prevention and support for survivors. I am surrounded by people from all over the country who are doing the work to help…
< Read More >You Can’t Still Smell The Flowers
I’m preparing a short talk about dementia for therapists next month and went looking for some graphics. I almost choked when I read one sweet looking thing about what dementia caregivers need to know about dementia. The first thoughts were reasonable: Don’t argue with someone who has dementia Be patient Watch your frustration level Then…
< Read More >Easter and Passover in Grief
My role in this program is not to assume you have a certain belief system, or even that you have any belief system. However, there are some days on the religious calendar that are unavoidable and whose messages can make grief more of a challenge. Easter is one of those. Passover as well. In the…
< Read More >Being the therapist on the first anniversary of violent tragedies
Next week will be a difficult anniversary day for many people in my community. We are one county away from Las Vegas, and it is considered almost our backyard. Holiday weekends the passes are jammed as folks from our area head that way, and folks from Vegas come the opposite direction. On the weekend of…
< Read More >When your grieving client is triggered by a national event: Five things you can do
I spent part of this weekend watching all the coverage of John McCain’s death, mixed on Sunday with the shooting in Jacksonville. It was Loss 101 all weekend. I knew that Monday would bring a week of clients who were working on their own losses already and were going to be at the least impacted…
< Read More >Grief for Therapists- when it happens to you
When grief happens- and you still have to be a therapist I had the opportunity to record a podcast with Kelly Higdon, LMFT, of Zinny Me. We talked about what happens when grief happens and you are working- something that happens far to often, and is frequently not a topic amongst therapists. In fact, on…
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