Grief Rituals

We are familiar with the public  grief rituals such as funerals, cremations or memorial services,  but smaller more personal grief rituals also have their important part to play in the healing process. The tradtional Irish wake The tradition of holding a wake is one of the most ancient of our…

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Grief and Support

This blog looks at the importance of grief and support. My previous blog looked at our natural tendency when we are grieving, to withdraw, to protect ourselves.  While this is absolutely understandable, it can mean that we miss out on the support that we really need at this time. Accessing…

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Support and Grief

My next few blogs on the topic of grief look at ways in which we can mind ourselves while we go through the deeply painful process of grieving.  This first blog looks at support and grief. As human beings we need to have the face-to-face support of other people as…

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What is Grief?

“The world breaks everyone, then some become strong at the broken places." Ernest Hemingway. My last few blogs looked at the emotion of sadness. I’m now going to have a closer look at the emotion or the collection of emotions that make up grief.  What is grief? Put simply, grief is…

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Coping with Sadness

“Sorrow is one of the vibrations that prove the fact of living.”  Antoine de Saint-Exupery. This blog looks at ways of coping with sadness. My recent blog looked at how, from an early age, we tend to bury our sadness. Avoiding feeling this sadness means that we can lose touch…

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Sadness or Depression?

Is what I'm feeling sadness or depression? People often worry that their feelings of sadness are going to turn into depression, or indeed ARE a sign that they are depressed. But sadness and depression are very different and this blog looks at the key differences between the two.  Feeling low…

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