Bereavement Resources
Recommended Grief Information Websites
www.caringinfo.org
This site, sponsored by the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization, provides simple and clear answers to various questions about grief, such as, “What is grief?, What does grief feel like?, How long does grief last?, and How will I know when I’m ‘done grieving’?”
http://dying.about.com
Look up “bereavement” on this site that provides simple as well as somewhat more complex and expanded definitions of grief and mourning, reviews myths about grief, addresses normal responses to loss, and identifies the difference between grief and depression.
www.journeyofhearts.org
This site provides good clinical information about grief interlaced with poetry, quotes and photos of nature that attempt to capture the experience of grief.
www.hospicefoundation.org
This Hospice Foundation of America site provides a clear and sensitive one-page informative piece about grief as well as a very worthwhile one-page piece by Ken Doka (well-known in the field of bereavement) titled, “Evaluating Advice and Information About Grief.”
http://grief.com
The site is maintained by David Kessler, who is well-known in the fields of end-of-life care and bereavement and who collaborated with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Mr. Kessler provides information about grief and bereavement, including common misunderstandings about Ms. Kubler-Ross’s “Five Stages” and evolving thought about those stages over the past thirty years.
www.icfa.org
A funeral planning site that provides good information about “How I Can Deal With The Death of a Loved One,” as well as “Five Assumptions That May Complicate Grief.”
More Interactive Bereavement Sites To Consider
www.GriefNet.org
“An internet community of persons dealing with grief, death and major loss.” The site provides many resources, including 50 email support groups, access to creating on-line memorials, and information.
www.virtual-memorials.com
www.memory-of.com
www.remembered-forever.com
Annotated Bibliography for Adults (Grief in General)
Colgrove, M., Bloomfield, H., and McWilliams, P. How to Survive the Loss of a Love. N.Y.: Bantam Books, 1976.
Small book with lots of practical suggestions that provide road maps for surviving grief.
Grollman, E. Living When a Loved One Has Died. Boston: Beacon Press, 1977.
Written to both inspire and inform, the succinct thoughts on each page are resonant and comforting.
Grollman, E. (editor) What Helped Me When My Loved One Died. Boston: Beacon Press, 1981.
This collection of personal stories of bereaved parents, spouses, children and friends creates a moving portrayal of the landscape of grief.
Kushner, H. When Bad Things Happen To Good People. N.Y.: Schocken Books, 1981.
The death of the author rabbi’s son provokes this search for an understanding of suffering and tragedy.
Lewis, C.S. A Grief Observed. N.Y .: Seabury Press, 1961.
The famous writer’s vivid account of his grieving following his wife’s death from cancer has become a classic.
Rando, T. Grieving: How to Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies.
Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1988.
A comprehensive and compassionate guide written by a distinguished psychologist and death educator.
Tatelbaum, J. The Courage to Grieve. N.Y.: Harper and Row, 1980.
Written to describe grief as a normal life experience, this sensitive book offers the possibility of growth as a meaningful bereavement outcome.
Annotated Bibliography for Adults (Grief for a Spouse or Partner)
Campbell, S. and Silverman, P. Widower: When Men Are Left Alone.
Amityville, N.Y.: Baywood, 1996 (2nd edition).
By offering first-hand accounts by widowers of various ages and backgrounds as well as analyses by the authors, this volume is a rich and valuable guide.
Faber, M. Grief Expressed: When a Mate Dies. Lifewords, 1997.
Well organized and very practical, this book offers creative ways to find comfort and courage from the author therapist’s personal and professional experience.
Foehner, C. and Cozart, C. The Widows Handbook: A Guide for Living.
Golden, CO; Fulcrum, 1988.
Two widows have written an extremely well-designed book that focuses on the emotional and practical issues of widowhood, including, for example, settling the estate.
Lieberman, M. Doors Close, Doors Open: Widows, Grieving and Growing.
N.Y.: G.P. Putnam, 1996.
The psychologist author interviewed 600 widows and 100 widowers for 7 years and discovered his own misperceptions about how widows face the challenge of bereavement.
Nudel, A. Starting Over: Help for Young Widows and Widowers. N.Y.: Dodd, Mead. 1996.
Practical and insightful, this book focuses on the unique issues facing this population including the impact of parental loss on young families.
Truman, J. Letters to My Husband: Notes About Mourning and Recovery.
N.Y.: Viking Penguin, 1987.
Small but affecting book that honestly reveals a widow’s range of profound feelings as she moves through grief.
Some Titles for Professionals Interested in End-of-Life Care and Bereavement
Attachment and Loss. John Bowlby:
Bereaved Children and Teens: A Support Guide for Parents and Professionals. Earl A. Grollman: Beacon Press, 1995.
Continuing Bonds: New Understandings of Grief. Dennis Klass, Phyllis R Silverman, and Steven L Nickman (editors): Taylor & Francis, 1996.
Dying Well: The Prospect for Growth at the End of Life. Ira Byock: Riverhead Books, 1997.
Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs and Communications of the Dying. Maggie Callanan & Patricia Kelley: Bantam Books, 1992.
Handbook for Mortals: Guidance for People Facing Serious Illness. Joanne Lynn, Joan Harrold, and The Center to Improve Care of the Dying: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Man’s Search for Meaning. Viktor E. Frankl: Hodder & Stoughton, 1964.
Matters of Life and Death: Finding the Words to Say Goodbye. Carol Wogrin: Broadway Books, 2001.
Meaning Reconstruction and the Experience of Loss. Robert Neimeyer (editor): 2001
Never Too Young To Know: Death in Children’s Lives. Phyllis R. Silverman: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Tuesdays With Morrie. Mitch Ablom: Doubleday, 1997.
