November is recognized as Grief Awareness Month, and is a time to remember. It’s also a time to learn how we can help support ourselves, and others, through our grief.
To help you along your grief journey, we have curated a list of grief resources, including books, websites, and community organizations in Waterloo Region. You can access these resources to learn more about managing grief.
Important Notes:
- These resources are not intended to replace therapeutic support. Remember, if you are struggling with your grief, it’s okay to reach out for help. Help is available.
- While these resources have been curated and should be safe for survivors of suicide loss, it is important to use your own discretion when accessing resources.
Books
Understanding Your Suicide Grief
Alan Wolfelt, Ph.D., Companion Press, 2009.
For anyone who has experienced the suicide of a loved one, coworker, neighbor, or acquaintance and is seeking information about coping with such a profound loss, this compassionate guide explores the unique responses inherent to their grief. Using the metaphor of the wilderness, the book introduces 10 touchstones to assist the survivor in this naturally complicated and particularly painful journey. The touchstones include opening to the presence of loss, embracing the uniqueness of grief, understanding the six needs of mourning, reaching out for help, and seeking reconciliation over resolution. Learning to identify and rely on each of these touchstones will bring about hope and healing.
365 Days of Understanding Your Grief
Alan Wolfelt, Ph.D., Companion Press, 2021.
After a significant loss, grief is an everyday experience. Bit by bit, these one-page-a-day readings will help you feel supported and muster the courage and hope you need to make it through the day. Whether you’re choosing this book as a follow-up to Understanding Your Grief or as a way to engage with the teachings in a different format, you’ll find a combination of classic content mixed with new ideas and insights. Reading just one page each day will help you sustain hope and heal your heart.
After Suicide Loss: Coping with Your Grief
Jack Jordan, Ph.D., and Bob Baugher, Ph.D., Caring People Press, 2016 (2nd edition).
This excellent handbook is organized chronologically to follow the days, weeks, and months after a suicide loss. It includes straightforward information about psychiatric disorders, when to seek professional help, and practical strategies for coping and healing.
Still With Us: Voices of Sibling Suicide Loss Survivors
Lena M Q Heilmann, Bdi Publishers, 2019.
The essays in Still With Us are arranged chronologically to move the reader from the first years of grieving to decades of healing. The authors commemorate the love that they continue to have for their siblings by telling us stories of grief, support, and strength.
Supporting Children after a Suicide Loss: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers
Sarah Montgomery, LCSW-C, and Susan Coale, LCSW-C, Chesapeake Life Center, 2014.
This unique book provides parents and caregivers with helpful information to better understand and communicate with children grieving a loss to suicide with a special focus on child development and how to talk with children of various ages.
Digital Resources
Dougy Center for Grieving Children and Families
The Dougy Center is a U.S. Based non-profit organization whose mission is to provide grief support in a safe place where children, teens, young adults, and their families can share their experiences before and after death. Although resources may not be suicide specific, their website has a wealth of information for parents and families who are navigating grief experiences.
Centre for Loss and Life Transition
The Centre for Loss and Life Transition, founded by Alan Wolfelt, is an organization dedicated to helping people who are grieving and those who care for them. The website has detailed information about grief, mourning, and the journey to healing.
Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors
The Alliance for Hope is a U.S. based non-profit which strives to provide an online healing environment for those who are coping with devastating loss to suicide. Their website provides information about the grief experience, including the different emotions and challenges that might be experienced.
Community Organizations in Waterloo Region
Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention Council
We provide bereavement supports through our “Why…???” Support After Suicide Loss group. To learn more about “Why…???” visit: “Why…?” Bereavement Support Group – WRSPC.
Bereaved Families of Midwestern Ontario
BFO Midwestern Region provides peer grief support and education services in the Waterloo Region and surrounding communities. This includes peer support groups for those of different ages, as well as seasonal events where bereaved individuals can come together and show their support.
Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo-Wellington
CMHA Waterloo-Wellington is the lead agency in Waterloo Region and Wellington County for adult mental health services. Through their MyPath program, individuals can access peer and community education, including peer support groups such as “Healing Journey Through Grief and Loss”.
