Most of us are not prepared to plan and carry out a funeral ceremony for someone we love. And so much of the information available on this critically important subject fails to focus on what is most important: having a personalized, meaningful funeral that helps families and friends begin the healing process of mourning after the death of someone we love. This section includes information that will help provide insights necessary to help you and your family create a meaningful funeral experience that both honors the life of your loved one and starts you [...]

Helping Yourself Heal When Someone You Care About Dies of a Drug Overdose by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. A friend or family member has died of a drug overdose. Death and grief are always hard, but when someone dies from drug use, understanding your feelings and knowing what to think and say about the death can be especially difficult. This article offers compassionate guidance for coping with your own grief as well as helping others affected by the loss. Addiction and the Opioid Epidemic People of all backgrounds and socioeconomic levels are affected by [...]

Helping Yourself Heal When Your Parent Dies by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Your mother or father has died. Whether you had a good, bad or indifferent relationship with the parent who died, your feelings for him or her were probably quite strong. At bottom, most of us love our parents deeply. And they love us with the most unconditional love that imperfect human beings can summons. You are now faced with the difficult, but necessary, need to mourn the loss of this significant person in your life. Mourning is the open expression of your [...]

Helping a Suicide Survivor Heal by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Historian Arnold Toynbee once wrote, "There are always two parties to a death; the person who dies and the survivors who are bereaved." Unfortunately, many survivors of suicide suffer alone and in silence. The silence that surrounds them often complicates the healing that comes from being encouraged to mourn. Because of the social stigma surrounding suicide, survivors feel the pain of the loss, yet may not know how, or where, or if, they should express it. Yet, the only way to heal is to [...]

Helping Yourself Heal When Your Child Dies by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Allow Yourself to Mourn Your child has died. You are now faced with the difficult, but important, need to mourn. Mourning is the open expression of your thoughts and feelings regarding the death of your child. It is an essential part of healing. With the death of your child, your hopes, dreams and plans for the future are turned upside down. You are beginning a journey that is often frightening, painful, and overwhelming. The death of a child results in the most [...]

Helping Yourself Heal When Your Spouse Dies by Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D. Few events in life are as painful as the death of your spouse. You may be uncertain you will survive this overwhelming loss. At times, you may be uncertain you even have the energy or desire to try to heal. You are beginning a journey that is often frightening, overwhelming and sometimes lonely. This article provides practical suggestions to help you move toward healing in your personal grief experience. Allow Yourself to Mourn Your husband or wife has died. This was your [...]