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6 Things NOT to Say After a Death.
It's always hard to know what to say after a death, here are 6 things you should never say.
What does it mean for me to be “diagnosed?”
Think of a diagnosis as a snapshot of who you are not a life sentence.
During the course of our lives, it is safe to say that any of us can be identified as having a mental health diagnosis at one point in our lives. The death of a loved one, job loss, relationship issues are all potential catalysts for concern and they technically may lead to a diagnosis. This doesn’t mean that we are meant to carry a diagnosis forever or that we cannot recover or live fully functional lives. A mental health diagnosis is identifiable and agreed upon a cluster of symptoms meant to describe a person’s experience at that moment in their life.
Marriages Like Fine Wines Take Time
Relationships are like fine wines; the taste and consistency will not happen overnight. However, the steadiness, texture, and palatable is borne out of care, understanding, patience, and desire. In my couples, therapy work…I find the “crystal ball” effect being quite prevalent, in fact, it’s so prevalent that when mentioned individuals appear bewildered.
Celebrating Your Holidays Away From Home
Choosing to move to Southern California 15 years ago still, stirs up a variety of emotions during the Holidays for me. Even though it was very exciting to move from a cold, wet, dark country to sunny California, it was so strange and foreign (pun intended) to hear Christmas songs and seeing decorated trees in 80-degree weather. My first Christmas in Southern California was celebrated with friends at an outside barbecue gathering, which was total opposite from an inside dinner with close relatives around a fire in the fireplace.
Thanksgiving When You Don’t Feel Thankful
The holidays are a great way to reconnect with family, to have a Friendsgiving with those who aren’t family but probably should have been, to share old traditions, welcome new folks, watch a game (and argue about the game),
Grief Doesn’t Come in Stages
As a therapist, and especially a therapist who specializes in grief and loss, I find the concept of bereavement lasting more than eighteen months at the outside a bit hard to fathom.