Our Ten Grief Tips for Adults
Help if you are grieving: |
Help for a friend or loved one: |
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© WinterSpring 2012
For a downloadable pdf, Click Here
Group Support for Spouse/Partner Loss
We offer 3 peer-to-peer support groups per year. You can learn about the next group by clicking here. Please call our office to get more information: 541-552-0620
Help if you are grieving: |
Help for a friend or loved one: |
|
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© WinterSpring 2012
For a downloadable pdf, Click Here
This financial guide from an organization called “CPA Site Solutions” lays out a clear plan and offers some practical tips for someone who has just lost their spouse. Click here to access this great resource.
This past week, I participated on a panel at the local high school’s Parent Academy – the topic was single parenting. Many parents unexpectedly find themselves alone, either through divorce or death of the other parent. It’s a shock, really. It was for me. When my former husband passed away unexpectedly leaving me to raise our daughter by myself, I felt closed in and afraid. It felt too big, more responsibility than I ever wanted. Her grief, my own, our changed lives…how would we get through it?
We did get through it, day at a time…which brings me back to what I learned at the Parent Academy. Here’s some things I gleaned from the panel and audience participants:
Common challenges for single parents:
• Lack of Sleep
• Loneliness
• Grief
• Emotional stress
• Time management
• A lack of sanity
• Challenges with kids’ attitudes and accountability
Ways to take care of yourself:
• Exercise – one woman started running every day and lost 40 pounds
• Drinking water—keeping yourself hydrated helps to fend off depression feelings
• Find friends you can talk to about your challenges with kids and getting time for yourself
• Take time for yourself in nature—one woman walks under the moon and stars at night
• Dance to wild music when the kids aren’t around
• Start a gratitude journal for yourself…or share it with your kids so that you all practice gratitude
Ways to connect better with your kids:
• Set aside special time for your kids—they want time with you, even if they are teens
• Appreciate them for the things they do well
• Set reachable goals—make a chart with tasks that you expect and make a reward for getting a certain number done
• Work with your child on the things you expect and let them come up with some ideas
• Find grief support groups for them in your local community
• Realize that underneath bad behaviors is deep loss—help your kids learn to grieve in healthy ways
If you are a single parent, please share what works for you!
AARP’s “Guide for the newly Widowed”
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/1818SOCIETY/Resources/NewlyWidowed.pdf
Open to Hope Foundation
http://www.opentohope.com/
Non-profit organization and online resource for general bereavement, with special focuses on: Child Loss, Parent Loss, Spouse Loss and Sibling Loss
This site has community forums, articles, stories, ideas, suggestions and ways to connect with others who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
Soaring Spirits International
“Connecting Widowed People Worldwide”
http://www.soaringspirits.org/
From their website: “Widowed people created Soaring Spirits because we discovered that connecting with other widowed people made the challenges of surviving a spouse or partner a little easier to manage. Soaring Spirits communities, both online and in-person, are diverse, inclusive, secular, and positive. We share resources, ideas, energy, and most importantly, hope.”
From their website:
widowedvillage.org
“Created by widowed people for widowed people. We get you.”
A program of Soaring Spirits International.
GriefShare
www.griefshare.org
From their website: “GriefShare is a friendly, caring group of people who will walk alongside you through one of life’s most difficult experiences. You don’t have to go through the grieving process alone.” There are local GriefShare groups in many locations across the country as well as ways to connect with other grievers online. GriefShare is a Christian-based organization.
The Center for Loss and Life Transition, Dr. Alan Wolfelt
Dr. Wolfelt is a nationally recognized expert in grief and loss. Through the Center you can access various articles on grief and loss, including Spouse & Partner Loss; purchase books on bereavement; sign up for an e-newsletter; register to attend a workshop with Dr. Wolfelt, and get involved in other ways with others who are grieving the loss of a loved one.
www.centerforloss.com
Single Fathers Due to Cancer
From their website: “Our long-term goal is to develop and disseminate a standardized approach to help single fathers whose wives died from cancer.”
Informative site with blogs and videos of/from single fathers whose spouses died from cancer, along with information about children’s grief.
www.singlefathersduetocancer.org
National Widowers’ Organization
An organization of and for men who have lost a spouse or life partner.
From their site: “The National Widowers’ Organization educates the public about the special needs of men who have lost their spouse or life partner. We do this by promoting the development of support groups for men to manage their grief and adjust to a new life and by advocating for research into men’s unique needs to deal with grief and spousal loss.”
http://www.nationalwidowers.org/
New York Times article on loss of a spouse/partner
“Getting on with life after a partner dies”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/health/15brod.html?_r=0
BBC booklet: “Losing Your Partner”
Online resource from England’s British Broadcasting Company (BBC) on many aspects of losing a life partner, heterosexual or same sex, married or not.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/relationships/tv_and_radio/losing_your_partner_booklet2.pdf
Resources especially for those are widowed young
Sharing from young widows/widowers and a list of websites specifically for those who are young when their spouses or partners die.
From www.griefhealingblog.com
http://www.griefhealingblog.com/2014/07/resources-for-young-widowers.html?m=
This resource for Young Widows is from the UK:
WAY ~ “Widowed and Young.” For men and women.
https://www.widowedandyoung.org.uk/bereavement-support/
A book some young widows and widowers have found helpful:
https://www.amazon.com/Im-Grieving-Fast-Can-Widowers/dp/0882820958
Resources especially for those in the LGBT community who are grieving the death of a spouse or partner
“Dan In Real Time”
LGBT Spouse/Partner Loss blog site with many posts from LGBT community and beyond.
http://daninrealtime.blogspot.com/
Gay Marriage and Gay Widowhood
by Michael Shernoff, MSW
For and about gay men who’ve lost a partner/husband.
http://www.griefandrenewal.com/article13.htm