Resources for Grief

Grief Resources

  • Kinds of resources helpful for people who are mourning:
    • Good friends who are there for you when you need them
    • Grief therapists
    • Faith resources: religious faith, ministers, pastoral counselors, lay pastoral care workers
    • Grief support groups
    • Art therapy, dance therapy, and other therapies not involving talking
    • On-line access to information about the grieving process
    • The stories of others who have made it through grief
    • Books
  • Crisis Support Services of Alameda County
    • Grief and Senior Counseling Programs: 1-800-260-0094
    • Handling situations of traumatic death, partner/family loss
    • Services and personnel: Interns, licensed clinicians, grief groups, children services
  • On-line resources:
  • Books:
    • After Suicide: A Ray of Hope by Eleanora Ross
    • Children and Grief by William Worden
    • Children and Grief: Big Issues for Little Hearts by Johnette Hartnett
    • The Class in Room 44-When a Classmate Dies by Lynn Bennett Blackburn
    • Death Etiquette for the ’90s, What to Do/What to Say by Johnette Hartnett
    • Getting Back to Life When Grief Won’t Heal, by Phyllis Kosminsky
    • The Grief Recovery Handbook: The Action Program for Moving Beyond Death, Divorce and Other Losses, John W. James & Russell Friedman
    • When Children Grieve- For Adults to Help Children Deal with Death, Divorce, Pet Loss, Moving, and Other Losses John W. James & Russell Friedman with Dr. Leslie Landon Matthews Healing Grief, 2nd Edition
    • Helping Teens Work Through Grief by Mary Kelly Perschy
    • How to Recover From Grief by Richard Lewis
    • How Will I Get Through the Holidays by James E. Miller
    • It’s Not Your Fault by Accord
    • Recovering From the Loss of a Parent by Katherine Fair Donnelly
    • The Undertaking by Thomas Lynch
    • Will We Do? Preparing a School Community to Cope With Crises by Robert G. Stevenson
    • My Son … My Son … – A Guide to Healing After Death, Loss, or Suicide, by Iris Bolton with Curtis Mitchell Roswell.
    • Night Falls Fast – Understanding Suicide, by Kay Redfield Jamison.
    • No Time to Say Goodbye – Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One, by Carla Fine.
    • Silent Grief – Living in the Wake of Suicide – A survivor and a psychologist tell what it’s like to be left behind – and offer help for moving on, by Christopher Lukas and Henry M. Seiden.
  • Videos:
    • Expressions of Grief (teen grief) by National Funeral Directors Association
    • Grief in America by Bert Atkinson
    • How to Survive a Death in the Family (children & grief) by The Guidance Club
    • You Are Not Alone by Steve Gilman (death of a spouse)
  • Grief associated with Job Loss
    • Grief experienced with job loss is individual and may vary according to whether the loss was anticipated or sudden, the length of time in the company position, and the person’s values and beliefs.
    • As in other kinds of grief, people can feel like they are on an “emotional roller-coaster” and go through several emotions sometimes more than once. At first they may be in shock, confused, and disoriented. They may experience some of the other “stages of grief”: depression, guilt, preoccupation with the loss, and anger. Sometimes people experience anger directed at various sources: family, self, employer, or God that may last for a few days or months. When moving out of grief, people learn how to adapt to the reality of not having the job that was lost. This may happen before or after a new job is found.
    • The feelings of grief need to be acknowledged and addressed.
    • Suggestions:
      • Find ways to show that you believe the person still has worth and dignity in your eyes.
      • If you think the person could benefit from professional counseling because of their psychological state, you can suggest that they might consider this alternative.
      • Suggest that this might be an opportunity to find out what the best vocation for them really is. Maybe a change in the kind of work they are doing can lead to a more meaningful life.
      • Help the person to be less isolated. Phone or visit them. Suggest things they can do with others.
      • Encourage physical and recreational activity and activities that don’t require money.
      • Do things that can give the person a sense of hope. Examples: tell stories of others who have lost and found jobs; introduce them to someone who has gone through an experience like this before successfully.
      • Suggest resources that the family can turn to: consumer credit counseling services, job training.
      • See if there are job transition support groups in the area.