loss of a husband

Anticipatory Grieving: mourning the living

Dear Dr. Neimeyer, Your recent reply to the woman widowed over 25 years ago resonated with me, even though my husband is still alive.  I am a member of the Well Spouse Association, a national nonprofit organization which provides peer support to those caring for chronically ill or disabled spouses. “Chronic sorrow”…”bleaching out of emotions”…”surviving but not thriving”… “sense of not fitting […]

Anticipatory Grieving: mourning the living Read More »

A Widow’s Complicated Grief Rituals…Dear Dr. Neimeyer:

     I am a therapist who is seeing a woman who lives alone and without children, for complicated grief, and one of the people for whom she is grieving is her husband.  They were married 4 years before he died 19 years ago,  Every year on their anniversary, she has a very complicated ritual

A Widow’s Complicated Grief Rituals…Dear Dr. Neimeyer: Read More »

Five Principles for Managing Grief in the New Year

Dear Dr. Neimeyer– My husband died just over a year ago, so on January 1st I will start my second year without him, and I am not looking forward to it.  It’s not that I am immobilized by grief, as I have gotten better across the months in that department, and actually feel pretty good

Five Principles for Managing Grief in the New Year Read More »

Husband’s Suicide: How do I move on?

Dear Dr. Neimeyer, My husband of over 30 years killed himself over two years ago. I went through survival mode the first year, and now have my life “working” in a sense, but still ruminate too much about “why,” and what I could have done to change it. I want peace, to accept that this

Husband’s Suicide: How do I move on? Read More »

Lost my husband to lung cancer

Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I recently lost my husband to lung cancer. The chemotherapy was not working and they were debating whether another form of treatment would work. He then got an infection and was admitted to hospital. He never left the hospital as he got sepsis.  I feel responsible as I was his caregiver 24/7

Lost my husband to lung cancer Read More »

Feeling conflicted about remarrying

Dear Dr Neimeyer, My husband passed away a few years ago when my children were very young. I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful man and remarry. He has embraced ‘our’ children as if they were his own. My problem is that I am very conflicted. I want my children to grow up knowing

Feeling conflicted about remarrying Read More »

I lost my husband in an accident over 25 years ago

Dear Dr. Neimeyer, I lost my husband in an accident over 25 years ago while we were getting ready for his grandmother’s funeral. There were so many unanswered questions, as our daughter was only a year old and she is  now nearing 30. But my question is why I still have my moments of tears and

I lost my husband in an accident over 25 years ago Read More »

Scroll to Top