Oh, we talk about the best cold medications and if cherry cough syrup tastes better to kids than orange. We can recommend preschools and sneakers. But the hardest part of parenting is the least often discussed. The roughest aspect of being a parent is losing a child. Then we clam up. We don’t want to [...]

Everyone, at some time or other, experiences loss. Although it is an experience we all share, the type of loss, the impact of the loss and how we deal with it can be different. Even the same event that causes loss can be experienced in a unique way by the various people impacted by the [...]

Whether our sexuality was stolen from us or we gave it away, we experience a loss. But unfortunately many of us don’t allow ourselves to grieve those losses. Psychologists tell us that there are five stages of grieving; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Writing out our life map begins to move us beyond denial to [...]

Yesterday Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an army psychiatrist, opened fire at the Fort Hood military base in Killeen, Texas, killing 13 people. The BBC reports: The shooting began at about 1330 (1930 GMT) on Thursday at a personnel and medical centre at Fort Hood – the largest US military base in the world, home to [...]

I recently found out I have epilepsy and notice that I am having a hard time dealing with it. Sometimes it comes out in my temper. Is this normal? And what can I do to change this? Advice: Most people who find out devastating news go through a grieving process. This is normal. The first [...]

Grieving is caused by a loss of someone or something you loved.  It is the realization that something that once was is no longer.  I have never experienced heavier grieving then when my husband told me he loved someone else and walked out. I have had friends disappoint me, dealt with loss of loved ones, [...]

Several years ago a friend of mine’s son died. His name was Nathan and he was almost two months old when they lost him.   They lost him to SIDS – every parent’s nightmare.  He was there and then he was gone.  I cannot imagine the depth of their grief. In the months that followed my [...]

Friends in Pain

As Rodd crossed the street he could see the tears in his neighbor’s eyes. It’s hard to know what to say to a grieving friend.  Sometimes it is as simple as saying, “I don’t have all the answers, but I know the one who does.”  How do you extend community to the people in your [...]

I am 25 years old and have been in therapy for about four years now but I am still not feeling good about myself. I really don’t know how to make myself feel good for a long period of time. In fact, I can remember only feeling good about myself for no more than three [...]

I became widowed this year and I am raising three teenager sons. I have moved to another city and am so lonely. Can you help? Advice: Thanks so much for asking us to help with your situation. You have been through a lot of grief and stress in a short amount of time. Grieving the [...]