“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing…” – C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed When your loved one dies, you are forced through a doorway and the door to the life you once knew…
(818) 788-HOPE (4673)
Grief Support Groups Serving West Los Angeles, Encino and Agoura Hills
Grief Support Groups Serving West Los Angeles, Encino and Agoura Hills
“Healing Grief… Moment by Moment” is a podcast created and produced by HOPE Connection. In each short episode Dr. Jo Christner or another HOPE Connection therapist offers a meditative exploration of a different aspect of grief and the healing process. As you listen, we wish you love, light and comfort. This episode: “A Sudden Temporary Upsurge of Grief” (January 2022) — Jo Christner, Psy.D.
Barbara Bergstein has worked with families of disabled children for over 30 years. She has served as a board member of the Autism Society of Los Angeles and spoken to parent groups about the rights of children with disabilities. Barbara is also a practicing attorney specializing in estate planning for individuals with special needs. She is frequently consulted by other law firms on the uses of Special Needs Trusts to protect government benefits for disabled children and adults. Barbara can be reached at her website.
I have suffered many losses. My parents died within a year of each other, first my father then my mother. The year after my mother died, my brother died of lung cancer at age 63. I am now an orphan and the sole surviving member of my family of four.
As every member of the HOPE community who has spent time in a group can attest, personal interaction between group members is as deep as it is emotional. In a recent group meeting I witnessed an extraordinary example of the way in which members of our community inspire one another on their unique journeys through grief.
When your loved one dies, it may literally feel like it takes your breath away. You begin an odyssey that you don’t how know to navigate.
Shock and numbness prepare you for the journey as you plummet into a swirling dense fog of despair, an unfamiliar reality. The life you shared is no more. This is a forever loss and so begins… the eclipse into darkness.
Ah, New Year’s Eve is coming soon. For anyone who has lost a spouse recently that simple thought may be simply dreadful. Reactions to any holiday may range from I hate this to Boy I’ll be glad when this is over. Holidays — especially the first ones you’re experiencing alone — can be nerve wracking, beginning with the decision to even attend any celebrations.
Grieving is not an event. It’s a journey that has many faces, facets and layers, many losses within loss. Some will take you by surprise.
When your spouse dies, it feels like the pain of that loss is the only thing that you can see, feel and… barely manage. It feels like a deep hole inside that will never heal.
If you’re mourning the loss of your spouse or another loved one, you may have already discovered the extraordinary way in which a moment of gratitude seems to temporarily ease your pain. This is not merely your imagination. The latest scientific research — along with your intuitive sense of things — draws a strong correlation between gratitude and healing.
“Healing Grief… Moment by Moment” is a podcast created and produced by HOPE Connection. In each short episode Dr. Jo Christner or another HOPE Connection therapist offers a meditative exploration of a different aspect of grief and the healing process. As you listen, we wish you love, light and comfort. This episode: “The Healing Power Of Gratitude” (November 2021) — Channie Amato, LMFT The turkey…
“Do not delay, Do not delayThe golden moments fly.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow “The little things. The little moments. They aren’t little. “ — Jon Kabat -Zinnn Alice was 67 when her husband of 35 years died. She had lived her life as an optimistic cheerful person. Now her eyes had lost their sparkle. Her grief was overwhelming. After several weeks, she decided to…