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"Who Gets in Your Bucket" is an article about how friends and family can best help us when we are grieving by Doug Manning of In-Sight Books (www.insightbooks.com). As a counselor, lecturer and author, Doug Manning addresses the subjects of grief, aging and personal relationships across the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Titles offered on his Web site include Don’t Take My Grief Away From Me, When Love Gets Tough, Common Threads of Teenage Grief, Empty Chair: The Journey of Grief After Suicide, Finding Your Way After Your Parent Dies and Lean On Me Gently: Helping the Grieving Child. Good Grief Resources (www.goodgriefresources.com) is a Web site dedicated to connecting the bereaved and their caregivers with as many bereavement support resources as possible in one, efficient and easy-to-use website directory. It includes poems, book and magazine recommendations, a moderated email discussion list and features articles such as "Who Has the Worst Pain," "What is Normal Bereavement," "Dispelling Ten Common Myths About Children and Grief" and "The Holiday Army." GriefNet.org (www.griefnet.org) is an Internet community for people dealing with grief, death and major loss. It features close to 60 email support groups and two Web sites. A staff of bereavement professionals oversees all groups, which include, among others, forums for parents who have lost children, children who have lost parents, adults losing both children and parents, the loss of unborn babies and the loss of life companions, including spouses, partners, friends, even beloved pets. New groups are formed for newcomers with new needs. AARP Grief and Loss (www.aarp.org/families/grief_loss) pages offer articles, discussion boards, resources and tools for coping with grief and the loss of a loved one. In addition to identifying local and national organizations that offer bereavement support, the site provides information about arranging final details, including a checklist of financial and legal action steps to take when someone dies, survivor’s information on claiming Social Security, Veterans and employer benefits, documents to collect when someone dies and information on making funeral arrangements. The Dougy Center for Grieving Children and Families (www.dougy.org) offers peer support groups for grieving children. Since their founding, The Dougy Center has served over 14,000 children, teens and their families and has received national and international acclaim for their pioneering support model for helping children cope with the death of a family member. Online resources include information for adults to help a grieving child or teen, how to help with students if death impacts your school and pages devoted to help for teens and kids. The Compassionate Friends (www.compassionatefriends.com) is dedicated to assisting families toward the positive resolution of grief following the death of a child of any age and to provide information to help others be supportive. Brochures are available written by bereaved parents, grandparents and siblings. Titles include Understanding Grief…When Your Child Dies, How Can I Help When A Child Dies?, The Death of an Adult Child and The Sudden Death of a Child. There are over 600 local chapters in the United States and you can find one close to you at www.compassionatefriends.com/states.shtml. The Survivors of Suicide (www.survivorsofsuicide.com) is dedicated to helping those who have lost a loved one to suicide resolve their grief and pain in their own personal way. It aims to provide a safe place for survivors and friends of survivors to share their struggle and pain and offer comfort and understanding to others who have experienced a similar loss. In addition to providing information for local support, online help topics include Understanding Suicide, Beyond Surviving and How to Help a Survivor Heal. The National Society of Military Widows (www.militarywidows.org) was founded in 1968 to serve the interests of women whose husbands died while on active military duty, of a service-connected illness, or during disability or regular retirement from the armed forces. The purpose is to benefit widows of members of all branches of the uniformed services of the United States; give moral support, advice, referral service and in general help the widows of career military members to return to the mainstream of normal living; and educate the American public concerning the problems and needs of military widows in today’s society. Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (www.taps.org) offers hope, healing, comfort and care to thousands of American armed forces families facing the death of a loved one each year. Resources include peer and trauma support, detailed information on military benefits, ways to honor the fallen and TAPS publications, including A Kid’s Journey of Grief, TAPS Quarterly Magazine and brochures for surviving families and friends. Compassion Books (www.compassionbooks.com) is a bookstore that for 20 years has been collecting hard to find materials from hundreds of publishers and making them available by mail order and now online. Over 400 resources to help children and adults through serious illness, death, loss, grief and bereavement are available. Books and materials are reviewed and selected by knowledgeable professionals. The Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement (www.aplb.org) is the leader and authority in the field of pet loss and bereavement. This Website offers a regularly updated bibliography of books and tapes on the subject as well as special pages of hotlines, advice, support groups and a growing registry of those who counsel in this specialized profession. Copyright ©2006 Yardena Rand. All rights reserved. Website designed by http://www.webwyze.com. |