Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I have been working intermittently for many years with a woman named Pam who was divorced when her adult children were adolescents, as a result of the father’s unpredictable and violent behavior and alcoholism. Likewise, two of her four children have had long histories of drug and alcohol use, despite her funding […]
Complicated Grief: A therapist asks about the loss of a daughter Read More »
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I have read and heard you speak about the need to revisit and retell the story of the tragic death of a loved one in order to find meaning in the event. What stands out in your comments is obvious, but should be underlined, in my view: the profound Truth about the need
Tragic Death of a Loved One–finding meaning – copy Read More »
Dear Dr. Neimeyer I have read and appreciate your work about meaning reconstruction in loss. I have a friend whose grief is so complicated and consuming that she can’t find life for herself (her husband died from cancer about six years ago) and she can’t seem to move forward at all. Here is an excerpt
Complicated and consuming grief of a friend Read More »
I am a hospice social worker with a large bereavement center that offers community support services for grieving people of all kinds, not only surviving family members after a loved one dies in our home care or residential facility. But recently we’ve been stretched thin in our outreach and response services, and are trying to
Question from a Hospice Social Worker…Dear Dr. Neimeyer: Read More »
In my practice I have encountered some clients who have experienced a significant loss in the past (e.g., loss of a parent when they were teenagers), which obviously altered their world views. They made sense of their losses by coming to the conclusion that bad things can happen randomly in this world, while at the
Punished by God? : Dear Dr. Neimeyer: Read More »
Dear Dr. Neimeyer I have read and appreciate your work about meaning reconstruction in loss. I have a friend whose grief is so complicated and consuming that she can’t find life for herself (her husband died from cancer about six years ago) and she can’t seem to move forward at all. Here is an excerpt
Complicated and consuming grief of a friend Read More »
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I lost my son Charles a few months ago to suicide. Charles lost both his babies 4 years ago. Their first baby was a miscarriage and the second was born with a rare cancer and only survived two and a half months but lost his battle and passed on. This broke my son and the 4 years after
Suicide of a Son and Complicated Grief x Read More »
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. Paulina Dear Paulina, When a person has a litany of losses in such close succession
Why is it so hard? Coping with multiple losses. Read More »
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I am a nurse who works in a palliative care unit of a major metropolitan hospital, where I specialize in bereavement care. Although the work is very satisfying, it is also frustrating, as I seem to be flooded with referrals for grief therapy from several hospital units when a patient dies, and
When does grief require clinical intervention? Read More »
Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I’m a family therapist who has been working with a couple who have lost a young adult son in a drowning accident in a distant country, and in which the mother has remained in a deep, unshakeable grief for over three years, for two of which I have been working with her and her
