Grief.com

Grief.com is dedicated to help everyone deal with the often unknown terrain that comes along with all kinds of grief. Through education, information and other helpful resources we hope to make the challenging road of grief a little easier.

Tragedies & Children

Children read our feelings and mirror our emotions. Soaking up reassurance or fear, love or hate, safety or danger. Read More.

FAQs on Grief

Here you will find frequently Asked Questions about Grief & Grieving. From what is anticipatory grief? How long grief does last? Why not avoid grief? Should children go to a funeral? And many others.
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Help With The First Few Days

If someone close to you has just passed away, you may feel like you’re in a fog. That’s OK. What you are going through is a tremendously painful experience.
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Suicide & Grief

When we lose a loved one to suicide, it feels like we will never be the same. But we can heal and begin to build a life of love around the loss.
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Grief & Holidays

When you have lost someone special, your world losses its celebratory qualities. Holidays only magnify the loss. Read More.

A loved Ones Belongings

If someone close to you has just passed away, you may feel like you’re in a fog. That’s OK. Read More.

One Day Seminars

These informative workshops are open to anyone dealing with death or grief. Therapists, counselors, & nurses may receive continuing education credits. All are welcome!

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When a Child Dies

The Unthinkable Happened… In that terrible moment, everything changed forever and our world shifted. Losing a child has an impact on absolutely everything. It’s impossible to imagine having a “normal” life again. Read More.

LATEST BOOK

Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief

In this groundbreaking new work, David Kessler—an expert on grief and the coauthor with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross of the iconic On Grief and Grieving—journeys beyond the classic five stages to discover a sixth stage: meaning.

In this book, Kessler gives readers a roadmap to remembering those who have died with more love than pain; he shows us how to move forward in a way that honors our loved ones. Kessler’s insight is both professional and intensely personal. His journey with grief began when, as a child, he witnessed a mass shooting at the same time his mother was dying. For most of his life, Kessler taught physicians, nurses, counselors, police, and first responders about end of life, trauma, and grief, as well as leading talks and retreats for those experiencing grief. Despite his knowledge, his life was upended by the sudden death of his twenty-one-year-old son.

How does the grief expert handle such a tragic loss? He knew he had to find a way through this unexpected, devastating loss, a way that would honor his son. That, ultimately, was the sixth state of grief—meaning. In Finding Meaning, Kessler shares the insights, collective wisdom, and powerful tools that will help those experiencing loss. Read More

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Grief?
Grief is the internal part of loss, how we feel. The internal work of grief is a process, a journey. It does not end on a certain day or date. It is as individual as each of us. Grief is real because loss is real. Each grief has its own imprint, as distinctive and as unique as the person we lost. The pain of loss is so intense, so heartbreaking, because in loving we deeply connect with another human being, and grief is the reflection of the connection that has been lost.

When does Grief end?
Grief is not just a series of events, or stages or timelines. Our Society places enormous pressure on us to get over loss, to get through the grief. But how long do you grieve for a husband of fifty years? A teenager killed in a car accident? A four-year-old child? A year? Five years? Forever? The loss happens in time, in fact in a moment, but its aftermath lasts a lifetime.

Featured Video

In this Featured Video, renowned Author and Grief expert David Kessler helps us understand the basic of grief.

Watch Video on Understanding Grief

Congratulations to our Writing through Grief and Trauma workshop student, on her new book!

In May of 2017, Dolores Cruz’s 24-year-old son, Eric, was killed in a horrific car accident. In the depths of grief, she began a quest to find answers. She searched to find out how this could happen, to find the God she thought she knew, to find meaning and purpose in her life, to find truth, and to find her son. Little by little she was able to gain a whole new philosophy and understanding of life, death, afterlife and God. She found healing and peace in the realization that not only was Eric still around in spirit, but that the love he gave us while he was here on Earth continues on. This is her story. And this is the story of Eric, a model son, a loving sibling, a loyal friend, and a musician with a heart of gold, who left his physical body at age 24, and how he came here to change us, to affect us, to make us better, and to remind us to look around and appreciate the wonders of this beautiful world that we take for granted.

Tips for planning an online funeral

Make sure you have a good, fast, and reliable internet connection where the service will be held. Funeral homes will generally have the right setup, but other locations may not.
Designate someone other than the funeral officiant to run the technical aspects of the online session.
If friends and family in other locations will be speaking or presenting, make sure they test out their connection and setup as well.
It’s a good idea to have a test run, which can also be an opportunity to gather as a smaller group and mourn together.

Meet Contributing Author & Grief Expert: David Kessler

events_home1 David Kessler is one of the most well-known experts and lecturers on death and grieving today, reaching hundreds of thousands of people through his books. “On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five Stages of Loss is co-authored with the legendary Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. David also co-authored with Kübler-Ross, “Life Lessons: Two Experts on Death and Dying Teach us about the Mysteries of Life and Living.” David considers it an honor and privilege to have worked so closely with Elisabeth for ten years and to be with her during her passing. Learn More about David Kessler

In Memoriam: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D

elisabethkublerross Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D was a psychiatriarst and the author of the groundbreaking On Death and Dying. She has earned a place in history as the best-loved and most-respected authority on the subject. Elisabeth spent most of her life working with the dying. She was born in Zurich Switzerland, one of triplets. She graduated Medical School at the University of Zurich in 1957. She came to the United States in 1958. At the Hospital where she worked in New York, she was appalled by the standard treatment of dying patients. “They were shunned and abused, nobody was honest with them”, she said. Unlike her colleagues, she made it a point to sit with terminal patients, listening as they poured out their hearts to her.

She began giving lectures featuring dying patients who talked about what they were going through. Her first book On Death and Dying in 1969 made Kübler-Ross an internationally renowned author. “My goal was to break through the layer of professional denial that prohibited patients from airing their inner-most concerns,” she wrote. She spent many years speaking to standing room only audiences and writing over twenty books on the subject. Her books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages. She is also the recipient of more than twenty honorary doctorates.

In 1995 she suffered a series of major strokes, which left her paralyzed and facing her own death. At the time she said, “I am like a plane that has left the gate and not taken off. I would rather go back to the gate or fly away.” It was during this time that she and David Kessler wrote their first book together, “Life Lessons: two experts on death and dying teach us about the mysteries of life and living.” She said, “I wanted to finally write a book on life and living”

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross passed away on August 24, 2004. Elisabeth’s last book, co-written with David Kessler, “On Grief and Grieving” was completed one month before her death. “On Grief and Grieving,” is her final legacy, one that brings her life’s work profoundly full circle.