Good article on the secondary effects of losing a loved one.  Many of these hardships, trials and griefs involve loss of income and loss of everyday customs of daily life.  Financial burdens are especially hard for widows who did not work and now must deal with an assortment of bills and financial burdens.  These are only but an example of the many pains that come with a primary loss of a loved one.

The article, “Financial grief: When death isn’t the end of pain: by Billy Rute states,

“WHEN a loved one dies, the heartache is brutal enough, but many families find their grief compounded by the actions of banks and financial institutions.”

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This article clearly portrays the pain many go through financially.   Secondary losses are clearly an issue for anyone moving on.  They can be financial, or even day to day.  The widower in many cases becomes more domestic, dealing with laundry or cooking for the first time.   Please also review our Bereavement Counseling Training and see if it matches your academic and professional needs.

A type of grief that is largely looked over is miscarriage.   The reality is the loss of a baby due to miscarriage can be very emotional and painful for the family expecting.  Some families have difficulty getting pregnant and others deal with this type of loss due to beliefs much greater than others.  Regardless though, there is always an emotional loss with miscarriage, especially for the woman who experiences it.  Please review also our Grief Counseling Program

The article, The stages of grief after a miscarriage, by Sabrina Zalewska states

“Much has been said and written about abortion, and about the death of a child who has already been born. But recently, there has also been a greater focus on the pain and feelings of loss stemming from miscarriage.”

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Music can soothe many things.  It has an ability to mentally put us in a variety of moods.  It also has an ability to help us overcome grief, loss and anxiety.  Please also review our Grief Counseling Program

Please also review our Grief Counseling Program

Great article on grief and knowing what to expect and what not.  It is hard sometimes to know what is normal grieving as opposed to complicated grieving.  This article looks at 13 things to watch out for. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program by clicking here

The article, Grief: What’s Normal, What’s Not ― and 13 Tips to Get Through It, states,

“At times, emotions may get tucked under a rather out-of-body feeling. At other times, you may feel your insides squeeze with loss. One day, you may feel like throwing something that would shatter. Another day, you could feel a strange sense of peace.”

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Short help article on a few ideas in working through grieving. Please also review our Grief Counseling Program to learn more

The article, 5 Tips for Plowing Through Grief—and Surviving , by Hambeth Hochwald states

“For author Laurie Burrows Grad, August 1, 2015, marked the day her life unalterably changed when her husband, Peter, died in her arms. “One minute he was laughing and happy, and the next minute he was gone,” she says of her husband of 47 years. “I fell to the floor in heaving sobs like you see actors do in the movies. But it wasn’t a movie. This was real life and it was happening to me.”

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After losing a child, the continuous grief can be something becomes a daily reality.  Although eventually adaptation to the pain emerges, one still experiences the pain.  It does not go away

The article, Grief at losing a child is ‘a continuous, daily thing’, Source; Derry Journal states

Sometimes the best words can hurt deeply when trying to help others.  This is why certified Grief Counselors need to know what to say to the bereaved.

Please also read the article, “3 Common Grief Sayings That Can Bring More Pain Than Comfort” by Rhone O’Neill states,

“If you have lost someone you love, you know that there are no guidelines or instructions on how to get through your grief.  You also know that people who try to support you will offer well known platitudes in an attempt to comfort you, but many of these comments do nothing more than confuse and hurt you.”

To read the entire article, please click here

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The Psychology Of A Near-Death Experience

If you have ever met anyone who has had a near-death experience – or if you have ever experienced this phenomenon yourself – you know that it changes you forever. Psychologically speaking, it is nearly impossible to “go back” to looking at life and death the same way as you did before, and often you feel driven to find out why and how this can happen and if it has happened to others as well.

Despite an ever growing body of research studies that focus on phenomena of this type, as well as an expanding library of books (both research and memoir-based) on the topic, it is clear scientists and human beings still have much to learn about near-death experiences. How they happen, when they happen, why they happen – all of these questions are still very much open for insight and exploration.

However, there are certain psychological impacts of a near-death experience that have now been identified. In this post, learn what psychological studies have to say about near-death experiences (often called simply “NDEs”). Also learn about five of the ways having (or even hearing about) a near-death experience can impact a person psychologically.

Dr. Jung and NDEs

In 1944, famous psychologist Dr. Carl Jung experienced a near-death experience. Not only did Dr. Jung report experiencing many of the same events that experiencers today report, but he then returned from the experience to incorporate his newfound awareness of the afterlife into his groundbreaking work in the field of psychology. One of the concepts that came out of this period is his assertion that the “unconscious psyche” of an individual believes in “life after death,” even if the conscious individual may not.

What Psychological Studies Say About NDEs

According to Psychology Today, NDEs absolutely do happen. In fact, research shows that there is much similarity in how they happen and the sequence of events that occurs as well.

Here is the common sequence of events that many experiencers report:

– A feeling of hovering or “floating” slightly above the physical body, and at the same time being able to see the body below (which researchers find similar to reports of “out of body” experiences).

– The visual sensation of a light, which is often very bright and pervasive.

– Some sort of review of life-to-date, which is often visual.

– A visual or physical sensation of moving through a tunnel.

– Feelings of peace, joy, pleasure, unity with all.

– Seeing beings, sometimes known and sometimes unknown.

– An awareness of having moved beyond life (“being dead”).

Today, researchers are able to link these experiences to specific neurological functions and even specific parts of the brain that control these different functions, most notably the left temporal lobe, which seems to control an individual’s sense of body-awareness.

As well, interruption in the REM cycle sleep stage, which occurs in some individuals but not in everyone, is thought to account for some of the feelings of “floating” above the body, since REM interruption causes what researchers call “sleep paralysis.”

Researchers that have explored a possible link between low oxygen levels and NDEs have not found a link there, but there does seem to be a possible link between low blood sugar levels and NDEs.

5 Ways NDEs Impact a Person Psychologically

The International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) has assembled extensive information and qualitative research (stories)

1. People report that having an NDE changes their life forever.

IANDS reports that people near-universally report that having a near-death experience changes them in some fundamental way from that point forward. Many report feeling less fear, more love, more connection and no more fear of death. Often experiencers have a greatly enhanced ability to experience love, joy, wonder and acceptance for self and others.

2. Interpretation plays a huge role in how an NDE changes a person.

Psychology Today reports that personal interpretation plays a huge part in exactly how having a near-death experience will change a person. Personal feelings of faith (or lack thereof) often seem to shape the actual NDE experiences, including seeing religious figures or angels or simply interpreting what they see in light of what they do or don’t believe.

3. The review of life-to-date puts old wounds and questions into perspective.

For people whose NDE experience includes what researchers call a “life review,” or what many moviemakers call “life flashing before your eyes,” these people report a positive effect and often some significant healing from past hurts or old questions being resolved. In this way, NDE experiencers report that the NDE itself functioned sort of like a psychological technique called “psychodrama” where the person gets to revisit or even replay the past in service to resolving old issues.

4. The NDE experience itself can sometimes be faith-changing.

For some experiencers who previously did not have any faith in an “afterlife” type experience, whether religious or secular, they report the NDE experience changes their beliefs about what happens after death. Often, experiencers who previously believed nothing happens after death now report that they feel like life continues after death.

5. The NDE often prompts greater interest in spiritual matters.

Because of the life-changing, profound impact of the NDE on those who experience it, many people report resolution of psychological conflict between “conscious” beliefs about life after death and what they have experienced during the NDE (a la Dr. Jung – see above). This not only allows these experiencers to experience more peace but prompts a more open interest in and attitude towards learning about both psychological and spiritual matters as it may relate to their own NDE experiences.

Near-death experiences are clearly fascinating and the field is still wide-open for additional research to be done. Psychologically speaking, the two universal findings to date are that NDEs are documentable, viable phenomenon worth studying further and that NDEs have a profound psychological impact on those who experience them.

Jessica Kane is a professional blogger who writes for Legacy Headstones, a leading ohio-based headstone manufacturer and vendor.

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