Grief Resources

Understanding Grief & Loss

Overview

• The Signs of Complicated Grief by Dr. Tracey Marks

Neuroscience

• How Grief Affects Your Brain by NBC News

Bibliotherapy

Self-Help

• A Buddhist Grief Observed by Guy Newland (wisdom from the Dalai Lama)

• Adapting to Loss: Ten Practical Steps, from Lessons of Loss by Robert Neimeyer

Memoirs

• Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

• It’s OK That You’re Not OK by Megan Devine, LPC

• The Grief Club by Janine Kwoh

• The Dead Mom’s Club by Kate Spencer

• Resilient Grieving by Lucy Hone, PhD

• Bearing the Unbearable by Joanne Cacciatore, PhD

• The Way Through the Woods by Long Litt Woon (nature themes)

• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (part auto-biography, dying and cancer themes)

• The Cure for Sorrow by Rev. Jan Richardson (non-religious poems written by a Methodist minister, some that reference Bible passages)

• Psalms of Lament by Ann Weems (poems written in Christian/Patristic style)

Novels

• The Memory Box by Joanna Rowland (for children)

• What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons (bicultural themes)

• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Journal Prompts

• 32 Journal Prompts for Grieving and Loss by Asma Rehman, LPC

• Write a letter to whoever or whatever it is that you’ve lost:

  • In what specific ways do you miss or remember them?

  • How do you feel thinking about them?  What is the mix of emotions?

  • In what ways are you thankful for having them/it in your life?

  • What qualities from them would you like to have?

  • What have you wanted to share (with them or to others)?

• Write a letter to your grief itself: Tell it why you’re afraid, what it’s been like for you, or how you hope that it can help you to heal.

• Write poetry or a story where characters grapple with grief or to honor who/what you’ve lost.

• How to Carry What Can’t Be Fixed: A Journal for Grief by Megan Devine, LPC

Activities

• Cook a meal that reminds you of who/what you grieve

• Do an activity that you used to enjoy with your deceased loved one

• Write or listen to music that matches your feelings, reminds you of, or pays tribute to who/what you grieve

• Plant something in remembrance of who/what you grieve; as it grows and changes, so will your grief

• Create art, however you feel comfortable, that expresses your feelings or pays homage to who/what you grieve

• Evaluate your basic needs (food, sleep, rest).  What needs to improve?  Make a plan.

• A 12-Minute Meditation for Grief and Loss from Mindful