6 Ways to Rise Up When You Feel Ready to Rebuild

No matter what you have been going through or what type of grief you have been facing, at a certain point, the heavy clouds will begin to thin out and some blue skies and sunlight will start to peek through. You might not feel ready to embrace the warmth and the light just yet, but one day, I promise you will smile again. No matter how scorched your world has become, there is always the potential for new growth, sprouting just beneath the surface. Eventually the green bud of renewal will poke up from the earth, with the promise of growth and hope. When you are ready, I am here, with open arms and big hugs. It won’t be an easy journey, but it will be all yours - and therefore uniquely precious.

When the Grief You’re Carrying is Not Your Own

Epigenetics, Family Constellations & Inherited Family Trauma

Family constellations therapy is a beautiful healing modality that can help uncover these sorts of traumas - the ones that have been carried down intergenerationally, an unbroken link in a painful chain, inherited by a later descendant. This modality, established by Bert Hellinger, helps us uncover “entanglements” or “invisible loyalties” that may exist in family systems as a result of unacknowledged trauma or loss.

Getting Personal About Grief

Follow along on my personal journey through time and grief as I share what it was like for me preparing to speak at the 2021 Links Grief Summit and writing Project Proactive’s parent’s guide on helping children grieve.

My hands trembled and my heart started beating quicker as the minutes grew closer. I wasn’t trembling because I was afraid to speak at the Links Grief Summit. I don't have a fear of public speaking. Although the number of participants was way over the 250 mark, I felt at ease. After all, I was speaking virtually, seated comfortably in my cozy office.

Grief and LossEsther GoldsteinJuly 19, 2021Comment

Learning to Live with the Invisible Presence of Grief Through Expressive Arts

Creative arts therapy can be deeply moving in the healing of grief, because it helps us create a place to hold our pain, external from ourselves, an object created with the sole purpose of expressing love and loss. People of all ages are able to explore their feelings, reconcile emotional conflicts, foster self-awareness, manage behavior, develop social skills, improve reality orientation, reduce anxiety, heal trauma, increase self-esteem, and find new ways to express what words cannot.

7 Mindset Shifts to Help You Ride the Waves of Grief

If you’ve been touched by death, my heart feels for yours. The loss of a loved one, a parent or siblings is devastating. Many people are impacted by grief when they lose friends, colleagues and pets. Everyone is affected differently by different losses and grieves differently in response to their losses. Those griefs can bring new griefs as you move through phases of life and new experiences without your loved one. Each lifecycle event or milestone can trigger latent emotional tidal waves. Grief is an ongoing journey with no end. It’s about learning to accept and live with this new reality.

Depression, Grief and LossEsther GoldsteinJuly 19, 2021Comment

Permission To Grieve

Grief is hard, but living trapped in unacknowledged grief is worse. Jackie is a Medical Resident in her final year who is struggling with ambiguous grief. Nobody has died, but she has been suffering on her recent shift in Obstetrics & Gynecology. If you’ve been struggling with anxiety or chronic stress you might relate to Jackie, and perhaps you will realize, that it could be related to your unmet need to grieve lost hope. Please be gentle with yourself. Give yourself the psychoeducation, time and space you need to heal and process your grief.

Hope when you are looking for answers.

A Mental Health Blog in Long Island