Healing Resources

Literature for Hospice/End of life Care/Palliative Care

Dying Well by Ira Byock

Nobody should have to die in pain. Nobody should have to die alone. This is Ira Byock’s dream, and he is dedicating his life to making it come true. Dying Well brings us to the homes and bedsides of families with whom Dr. Byock has worked, telling stories of love and reconciliation in the face of tragedy, pain, and conflict. It is a companion for families, showing them how to deal with doctors, talk to loved ones—and make the end of life as meaningful and enriching as the beginning.

Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death, by Joan Halifax

The Buddhist approach to death can be of great benefit to people of all backgrounds—as has been demonstrated time and again in Joan Halifax’s decades of work with the dying and their caregivers. Inspired by traditional Buddhist teachings, her work is a source of wisdom for all those who are charged with a dying person’s care, facing their own death, or wishing to explore and contemplate the transformative power of the dying process. Her teachings affirm that we can open and contact our inner strength, and that we can help others who are suffering to do the same.

The Four Things That Matter Most by Ira Byock 

Four simple phrases — “Please forgive me,” “I forgive you,” “Thank you,” and “I love you” — carry enormous power. In many ways, they contain the most powerful words in our language. These four phrases provide us with a clear path to emotional wellness; they guide us through the thickets of interpersonal difficulties to a conscious way of living that is full of integrity and grace.
In The Four Things That Matter Most, Dr. Ira Byock, an international leader in palliative care, teaches us how to practice these life-affirming words in our day-to-day lives. 

Final Gifts: Understanding The Special Awareness, Needs and Communications of the Dying. by Maggie Callahan and Patricia Kelley.
In this moving and compassionate book, hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley share their intimate experiences with patients at the end of life, drawn from more than twenty years experience tending the terminally ill. 

Empty Cradle, Broken Heart, Revised Edition: Surviving the Death of Your Baby

Deborah L. Davis
Empty Cradle, Broken Heart offers reassurance to parents who struggle with anger, guilt, and despair after such tragedy. Deborah Davis encourages grieving and makes suggestions for coping.

Pregnancy After a Loss: A Guide to Pregnancy After a Miscarriage, Stillbirth, or Infant Death, Carol Cirulli Lanham
“A ‘must-have’ guide for the devastated couple dealing with the many questions and fears that occur with a subsequent pregnancy.” –Candace Hurley, Executive Director/Founder, Sidelines National Support Network

Miscarriage: Women Sharing from the Heart. Allen, Marie, Ph.D., & Marks, Shelly, M.S.
Handbook by two bereaved mothers focuses on helping mothers to acknowledge and grieve the death of their unborn child. The authors share their intimate feelings and those of the 100 diverse women whom they interviewed about maternal love, loneliness, confusion, responses of their partners and doctors, and obstacles to grieving.

A Silent Sorrow: Pregnancy Loss – Guidance and Support for You and Your Family,
Ingrid Kohn and Perry-Lynn Moffitt
A Silent Sorrow has long been considered the “bible” for families seeking emotional and practical support after a pregnancy loss.

I Never Held You: Miscarriage, Grief, Healing and Recovery (Volume 1) [Paperback]
Ellen M. DuBois
I Never Held You speaks to the heart of women, their families and friends who have either lived through the pain & grief after miscarriage, or who want to better support someone who has.

A Guide For Fathers: When A Baby Dies, Tim Nelson
Small, simple, and meaningful- for dads who are not only dealing with the feelings of their wives, but also suffer their own, unique grief.

Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing(Thomas R. Golden, LCSW)
A book honoring the uniqueness of a man’s path towards healing. I find this material interesting and stimulating and feel it will fill a void in the literature about grief and gender differences. The material presents a fresh look into the uniqueness of a man’s grief in a way that both men and women will find extremely helpful. — Elisabeth Kubler-Ross M.D.

The Good Grief Club: A True Story about the Power of Friendship and French Toast.
Written by a bereaved mother, The Good Grief Club is the true story of seven women who discover that their new friendships have the power to heal the pain of losing their babies in miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death.

Center for Loss in Multiple Birth, Inc. (CLIMB)
Support for parents who have experienced the death of one or more of their twins or higher multiples. Newsletter, information on specialized topics, pen pals, phone support.
http://www.CLIMB-support.org

SIDS
National SIDS resource Center
Supports research, educates the public, and provides support network
http://www.sidscenter.org

SIDELINES
A non-profit organization providing international support for women and their families experiencing complicated pregnancies and premature births.
http://www.sidelines.org

RESOLVE
The National Infertility Association, is a non-profit organization with the only established, nationwide network mandated to promote reproductive health and to ensure equal access to all family building options for men and women experiencing infertility or other reproductive disorders.
http://www.resolve.org

The Fertile Source
Poignant essay by Cara Holman about her miscarriage experience that occurred between her first and second child.

Grief and Loss Observed by a Birth Doula by Kimberly Packard-Beck
In 2003 Certified Birth Doula, Kimberly Packard-Beck wrote this article on Loss and Grieving from the viewpoint of a practicing birth doula. It was written as an educational resource for other doulas to learn more about losses that may occur with birth and how to support to a client if she experienced a birth loss.

Grief Support

Hello Grief provides information and resources about grief in order to break through the current culture of avoidance that surrounds death and loss. Instead, Hello Grief addresses bereavement head-on for those who are helping others cope, as well as those who need support on their own personal journey with grief. 

Comfort Zone Camp, a community where kids can come year after year to get tools to help them cope with daily life after loss. 

Mourning Star The Mourning Star Centers are dedicated to providing gentle and loving support to children and teens that are experiencing grief, often times resulting from the death of a parent or sibling. The Centers provide a supportive and safe environment which encourages the sharing of feelings to facilitate the process of healing.