While driving a car, it’s important to see things from two different viewpoints — through the windshield and in the rearview mirror. The windshield is large and designed to protect you by showing a clear view of your present surroundings and a short distance down the road ahead. The rearview mirror is much smaller. You periodically glance into the rearview mirror to…
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Grief Support Groups Serving West Los Angeles, Encino and Agoura Hills
Grief Support Groups Serving West Los Angeles, Encino and Agoura Hills
Education (Page 2)
Man’s feelings are always purest and most glowing in the hour of meeting and of farewell – Jean Paul Richter, writer, 1763-1825 At HOPE Connection, we encourage every group member to say goodbye to other group members and the group therapist when they move from one group to the next. There is a rationale behind this tradition, which you can read about here. Following this tradition, a group…
One person may say — “Closure? Will there ever be an end to this horrible pain of grief? When will I get the closure that I hear about? I’m done. I’m not going to grieve anymore!” And another person may say — “I don’t want closure. I never want to let go. How can I possibly say goodbye forever to my loved one? I’m so confused. Am…
After a loved one dies, people often have an overwhelming feeling of loneliness. They feel lost, and the process of despairing and searching begins. Not only has our loved one died, we’ve lost our sense of connection. “S/He was my life.” It’s difficult to describe the depth of this kind of loneliness, feeling as though no one could possibly understand or fathom…
How the fundamental concepts behind acupuncture can help you heal Vivian Sobel, L.Ac., is a licensed acupuncturist who uses traditional Chinese diagnostic techniques including acupuncture, herbs, nutrition and micro current. Micro current is a painless needle free modality that quickly reduces inflammation and helps heal musculoskeletal pain and injury. She can be contacted through VivianSobel.com. If you’re grieving, regaining your balance may help you…
It’s not easy to join a group of strangers, especially when you’re in pain and feeling vulnerable. In a sense, the uncertainty is normal. Don’t these thoughts and feelings sound reasonable? I’m not a group person. I’m different than the people in the group. I don’t want to sit and listen to everyone’s pain! I’m afraid that I’ll cry. I’m a very…
Diane Dalbey, PhD. is a BodyMind Therapist, specializing in pain and trauma. She studied medical QiGong in Los Angeles and at the International Medical QiGong Institute in Beijing. She teaches QiGong and often uses Medical QiGong in her private practice, as a partner to many other therapies. You can visit her website at DrDianeDalbey.com. Diane is also an advocate of healing through…
When you’re grieving, it may feel like you’re in a long gray tunnel that you’ll never get through. It’s depressing, lonely, exhausting and feels endless.
It’s difficult to see the light. It can be frightening to think that you’ll never get through… that your life will remain in the gray.
If you allow yourself to grieve, you will heal. Life, as you knew it, will be changed forever but you will get through. You will have a newly defined life, one that you never asked for, one that you never imagined. This new life can again bring happiness, joy and peace.
How do you know if you’re healing?
I am alone and lonely with no one to turn to. Often I am afraid when thinking of my uncertain future… getting old and sick in a hospital or nursing home with no one to hold my hand and comfort me. Could you give me some feedback on this concern. When you get stuck in your fears about the future, you probably…
Though it has been discussed many times publicly and privately, it bears repeating from time to time just so that people don’t forget. There are some thoughtless and inappropriate comments that people say to the bereaved because they:
A) Don’t know what to say
B) Don’t think about what they’re saying
C) Are uncomfortable with their own vulnerability
D) Just don’t understand. It is just not part of any experience they have ever had; therefore, they are unable to relate.
When the person closest to you dies, it is not only