The following books and online resources offer additional support in the areas of Grief & Renewal, Psychological Support, as well as Parenting & Supporting Grieving Children:
Downloadable Worksheets
Key Contacts + Documents Worksheet
Income + Expense Worksheet
Net Worth Worksheet
Helping a Widow After Her Loss
Daily Habits Worksheet
50-20-30 Money Balance Formula Worksheet
Books:
The Grief Recovery Handbook by John W. James and Russell Friedman
Finding Your Way After Your Spouse Dies by Marta Felber
Widow to Widow by Genevieve Davis Ginsburg, MS
When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner
I Wasn’t Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One by Pamela Blair, PhD
Heartbroken: Healing from the Loss of a Spouse by Gary Roe
Comeback & Beyond: How to Turn Your Setback into Your Comeback by Tim Storey
Second Firsts: Live, Laugh, and Love Again by Christina Rasmussen
Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss
Online Resources:
Alliance of Hope
The Alliance of Hope for Suicide Survivors provides healing support for people coping with the shock, excruciating grief and complex emotions that accompany the loss of a loved one to suicide.
Camp Widow®
Camp Widow® is a program of Soaring Spirits International. It provides a weekend long gathering of widowed people from across the country and Canada in three locations: Tampa, San Diego, and Toronto. The camp creates a supportive community that understands the life-altering experience of widowhood. Camp Widow® provides practical tools, valuable resources, and peer-based encouragement for rebuilding your life in the aftermath of the death of a spouse… all in a fun, uplifting, laughter filled atmosphere.
Gary Roe – Healing Is Possible
Gary’s website provides a range of resources on grief and healing, including a Good Grief mini-course. His recent book, HEARTBROKEN is listed above.
GriefShare
The GriefShare organization is a friendly, caring group of people who will walk alongside you through one of life’s most difficult experiences. You don’t have to go through the grieving process alone. Enter your zip-code on the site to find the local group near you.
Modern Widows Club
A widow mentoring organization with large chapters across the country including: Orlando, North Atlanta, Houston, and Seattle. Modern Widows Club inspires widows to live a life where anything is possible. Moving forward while reaching back.
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
If your spouse or partner is/was involved in hospice, this organization offers up to one year of free grief counseling. They also offer community outreach counseling for people whose spouse or partner were not in Hospice but still need grief counseling. Finally, if the counseling offered does not meet your needs, contact the bereavement department of your local Hospice as they are usually happy to help you locate grief services and support in your area that is more appropriate for you.
Soaring Spirits Loss Foundation
SSLF is an inclusive, non-denominational organization focused on hope and healing through the grieving process. This organization is positive and forward thinking, while focusing on offering their members the tools and resources they need to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of the death of a loved one. Camp Widow® is a program of SSLF.
Second Firsts
The Second Firsts book is listed above and the Second Firsts website by Christina Rasmussen offers a daily “Message In A Bottle” delivered to your inbox. Action step oriented and highly motivational, Second Firsts provides a scientific and process-oriented approach to releasing pain consciously and methodically by relying on our brain’s ability to give birth to new pathways, new habits and new brain connections.
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)
This website helps military families find links to local support groups including bereavement counseling. Bereavement counseling includes a broad range of transition services, including outreach, counseling and referral services to family members. TAPS partners with the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as other organizations, to assist the bereaved in finding the counseling services needed.
Widowed Village
Widowed Village is an online interactive community that is also part of Soaring Spirits International. It connects peers with each other for friendship and sharing. The moderators, administrators, and others involved in running this site are also widowed. Peer support is an excellent, social way to learn more about living with loss and gain energy and ideas for your path to a new life.
Young Widow Forum
The Young Widow Forum is a moderated online community that exists to help the young widowed to recover, reclaim, and rebuild by facilitating the exchange of experiences, information and support. The forum offers opportunities to share your story and relate to others who share similar experiences. Sections of the board include General Topics, Timeline (topics based on time since loss), Specific Circumstances (topics based on whether or not you have children, or if your relationship was affected by suicide, addiction, mental illness or domestic violence, extreme care giving etc), Socializing and Encouragement. Modern and interactive.
Psychological Support:
American Psychological Association (APA) Online Help Center
APA’s Psychology Help Center is an online consumer resource featuring articles and information related to psychological issues affecting your daily physical and emotional well-being. The website has a number of online resources, including a tool to look up psychological support/counseling in your area.
National Suicide Prevention
Call: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
If you feel you are in a crisis, whether or not you are thinking about killing yourself, please call the Lifeline. People have called the lifeline for help with substance abuse, economic worries, relationship and family problems, sexual orientation, illness, getting over abuse, depression, mental and physical illness, and even loneliness.
When you dial 1-800-273-TALK (8255), you are calling the crisis center in the Lifeline network closest to your location. After you call, you will hear a message saying you have reached the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You will hear hold music while your call is being routed. You will be helped by a skilled, trained crisis worker who will listen to your problems and will tell you about mental health services in your area. Your call is confidential and free.
Parenting & Support for Grieving Children
Acts of Simple Kindness
Acts of Simple Kindness, Inc. is a 501c3 nonprofit organization that lends a helping hand to kids, under 18, of widows and widowers so that they may pursue programs in the areas of education, sports, music and the arts.
Grief Camps for Children
Grief camps are a great way for kids to learn about grief and to realize they are not alone. Many camps teach kids about grief and they also educate parents how kids grieve differently than adults. The following are examples of websites for kids grief camps held in several states, however, if you don’t see one for your state, it is definitely worth doing a search online for your state.
- Comfort Zone Camp
- Camp Courage
- The Moyer Foundation
- Taps Good Grief Camps (nationwide) – Call: 1800-959-8277 to find a camp in your area
- Camp Hometown Heroes
Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize, or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any web site’s users and/or members.
