Recent Stories
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, How do I stop blaming myself for my mother’s death? She was 85 and 18 hours away from heart valve replacement, doing well, ready for it. She was told to walk some before surgery, and her last walk was fatal. I think I could have stopped her from overdoing it, but I […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, I know from you writings and my own experience as a social worker in other settings that people contending with a traumatic loss benefit from having a safe space to slowly and fully tell the story of their loved one’s death, and reflect on its meaning for their lives. This can be […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, My 18-year old son lost his sister (age 10) two years ago, as a result of cancer. He had a very close relationship with her and was and still is devastated as he grieves for his sister. He has so much anger around her death but he won’t ever talk to me about his grief. He […]
Continue ReadingEditor’s Note–We thought this was highly relevant during the pandemic. Dear Dr. Neimeyer, Why is it so hard? I lost my sister in the Spring, then my husband a month later, then my son two months later. It’s been a losing battle I just don’t know how to handle this. Phyllis Dear Phyllis– When a […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, As a counselor with a good deal of experience in working with grief, I have been hired to present at a senior retirement community in my city. The audience will be potential patrons who are looking to move their widowed parents from their homes into a facility. The topic of the presentation […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, I lost my husband one year ago. My biggest problem is our children live so far away and only visit once a year. I feel so isolated because they are so busy with their lives and I am not included. One daughter will call weekly and the other daughter very rarely calls […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, Is the best and probably only way to get through complicated grief through the use of anti-depressants? Thanks. Demi Dear Demi, Both clinical experience and clinical research suggest that antidepressant medication is a mixed blessing in the context of bereavement, for several reasons. In fact, for many years psychiatrists agreed that […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, Ten years ago my beloved cat, Cloe passed away. She was sick cat and not supposed to live one year. She lived fifteen. Cloe was my constant companion. Whenever I was ill, she lay by my side. When pregnant and on bed rest for months, she was my best friend and confidant, […]
Continue ReadingDear Dr. Neimeyer, My teenage daughter Daniella died in a car accident almost two years ago, and even though I have been able to go on raising my other two children and working in my office job, I continue to feel a great deal of grief and also some irrational guilt about her death, because […]
Continue Reading