How to Find the Right Therapist
Finding a qualified mental health professional for support is more important than ever. And, you might be wondering, how do I find the right therapist for me?
Final scene for I’m Leaving You My Feet, a play about grief
So many of us are grieving, for all kinds of losses, on so many levels. We’re all finding ways to adapt to a new normal in the midst of the ongoing pandemic, changing the way we interact, communicate, and offer support to each other as we grieve. Thea Wigglesworth...
Take all the time and space you need to grieve
Grief is not linear, and there is no timetable.
Through the night with a light from above…
My heart goes out to everyone in this difficult time.
Grief is not linear
As you stumble and stride and stop to gather strength along the way towards healing, be compassionate toward yourself.
And now faith, hope, and love abide..
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.
The only way out is through
The only way out is through.
As we let our own light shine
In helping others, even when in the midst our own grief, we can help ourselves.
Listening is often the only thing needed
Listening is often the only thing needed to help someone.
My heart goes out to you
My heart goes out to everyone. It’s important to feel connected – we are all in this together, and together we will get through it. Never lose hope.
Grief, Anxiety, and the What-ifs and If-onlys
Do you have a running loop racing through your mind? It’s a natural response because we wish we could change the outcome.
It’s Okay to Be a Griever
When we experience any kind of traumatic loss it feels like we are in an alternate reality. Like we are in a place of in-between, pleading and praying this isn’t true.
Heavy by Mary Oliver
This poem touched me so deeply that I included it in my book.
Epitaph by Merrit Malloy
A friend recently shared this poem with a profoundly beautiful message about death and grief and love.
You Are Not Alone is 2019 Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal Winner in Non-Fiction – Grief/Hardship Genre
We are honored to receive this prestigious award.
What to Say, What to Do, and How to Help When Someone You Love Is Grieving
It can be hard to know what to say. So I’ve put together this basic guide for grievers and for those who want to help.
Ready To Be In This Therapist’s Room
There’s always a couch and a lamp and a plant of some sort. Across from that will sit one or two chairs with plush arms and pillows to hold onto. Next to the chairs will sit a small end table. On the table will be a box of tissues and a few ballpoint pens. The walls...
You Are Not Alone is Foreword Reviews’ 2018 INDIES Book of the Year Award Winner, Grief/Grieving
We are honored to be recognized for the 2018 INDIES Book of the Year Award
You Are Not Alone is Award-Winning Finalist in Health: Psychology /Mental Health, 2019 International Book Awards
We are honored to be recognized for this award.
A Message for Anyone Who Is Grieving and Needs Support
If you need support, here’s what you can do when you don’t know what to do.
Dear Grief
Dear Grief,I am writing to recount your recent stay.On November 1st, 2016 you arrived at my door. You had come for brief visits on other occasions, but this time you stood with suitcase in hand. You had moved into the homes of many great souls that year: David...
Dearest Tess
Dearest Tess, Remember writing this in your diary a few months before you left? Do you ever wonder when you look at the sky at night that there is a planet out there just like ours? And you are just like you. And you are actually looking back at...
The Yew
I often think that people should be like trees - if you could find a way to cut inside, you could see rings, showing what the person had weathered - the seasons, the losses, the gains. If I looked in my rings, what story would they tell? There I am at 16,...
Blessing for the Brokenhearted by Jan Richardson
Let us agree for now that we will not say the breaking makes us stronger or that it is better to have this pain than to have done without this love.
Love, Grief, and How to Write a Love Letter
An inevitable grief follows love. Yet we risk that grief, over and over – because we have no choice but to love each other.
Words of Comforts: Free Video Series for Grievers
A free, 5-part video series to shed light on some of the feelings, thoughts and struggles that are common for grievers.
When Great Trees Fall by Maya Angelou
When Great Trees Fall acknowledges the deep pain felt by anyone grieving someone they love, while also offering hope of eventual healing in the last stanza.
The Holidays Can Be Tough – Especially When We Are Grieving
When Jim died right before the holidays, I felt as if I would never be able to get through the holiday season that began a month later.
Returning to Work After Loss
Returning to work after loss may be one of the biggest hurdles you will ever overcome. You may think you are ready and find you are not.
How to Help Children Grieve and Taking Care of Your Own Inner Child
We are all interconnected at every age. We can best help children grieve if we address our inner child who is grieving, too.
Time is Not Linear and Neither is Grief Newsletter
When we are steeped in grief, it’s often difficult to find comfort in anything. We forget to step outside to watch a bee pollinate a flower, a riverbed flow to the ocean.
Time is Not Linear, and Neither is Grief
Grief is not linear – it moves back and forth, needing only one tiny flicker-flash of scent or song or sunrise to bring you back years to one short moment holding an eternity.
Mothers, Love, and Grief
May is a time of celebrating mothers, and for many of us who have lost our moms, it can bring our grief bubbling to the surface. My aging mother is still alive, but in poor health.
Grieving My Living Mother
When I discovered I was pregnant, I was thirty one and a publishing executive and I was at least seven years into being banished from my mother’s life, a cycle that started when I was a toddler. When I didn’t meet my mother’s expectations she stopped talking to me,...
Riding the Waves with my Mother
She was there for many of my firsts - first breath, first smile, first tooth. In the harbor where we lived at the end of a canal right next door to the volunteer fire department that was my father’s second home, she taught me how to swim, promising me a boat all of my...
My Mother, Dancing in the Stardust
When I was six months old, my mother thought my tear ducts were clogged. She took me to the doctor to see why I never cried. She was assured that my tear ducts worked fine. I just had no reason to cry. I was loved. I have felt her love my whole life and continue to...
Sparks, Music, and Clouds: Signs Come In All Forms
It’s important to acknowledge our loved ones often offer us signs. When we are open to the signs, the experience can be incredibly comforting.
My Sister Visits Santorini
Comedic writer Larry Tadlock writes about being in Santorini, Greece when he hears the news of his sister’s death.
Angel Messenger by Cora Poage
I had the pleasure of meeting Cora Poage, a talented Life Coach and writer, when I was visiting Kauai. We started talking about grief and signs, when Cora told me she wanted to share a story about one of her clients and a song that Cora kept hearing throughout...
Music, Grief and the Universe
When a loved one leaves us, there are always songs that will transport us back to a loving moment. Songs we shared with loved ones who have passed are ways we stay connected to them.
Grief Is Another Word for Love
Valentine’s Day can be especially difficult when we have lost someone we love. I am thinking of all of you who have suffered a loss and are grieving.
Holidays and Grief
I felt as if I would never be able to get through the holiday season. Eventually I was able to feel the joy and sparkle again, but it took time.
How Trauma Can Affect Your Ability To Think Clearly In Stressful Times
The Window of Tolerance helps us become aware of our feelings instead of reacting. This article explores how our trauma can cause anxiety or depression.
Listen. Wisdom for the Broken Hearted.
I would never leave you. The core of me, the essence, the love that never leaves, was always there. Heart wisdom for grieving. Listen to the heart.
Cinnamon Toast: Why it’s hard to eat when we are grieving
When someone we love dies, the grief and fear we can experience keeps our bodies in continuous survival mode. This feeling may last a long time.
Growing Through Grief: A Story for Fathers Day
Many of us have un-saids with loved ones who have died. I hope, as you heal and grow through your own grief, you too will grow in compassion, understanding, and forgiveness.
The First Signs of Healing: Finding Hope in Grief
A loss – the death of someone we love, a divorce, an illness, a job we love, any kind of life-altering loss – we feel like we’ve lost a part of ourselves.
Related By Love
Who’s to say what the definition of family is? Here’s what I think: we have a family we’re born into – but we also have a family we create.
Video: The First Night, Companion Piece
In this piece I talk about the beautiful and comforting signs so many of us receive.
The First Night: Video Excerpt from You Are Not Alone by Debbie Augenthaler
One of my chapters was filmed as part of a series with other writers. This is an excerpt from my upcoming book “You Are Not Alone”…
Magic and Miracles and the Angel of Hope: Hope is Always Waiting
This is the story of how a little girl protected her heart until she met someone who helped her learn how to trust again..
Letting Go of Anxiety: Finding the True Self
We are all expressions of the Divine. We are all connected through the divine love and light in each of our hearts. But many of us forget who we truly are, who we came here to be.
Exploring Shamanism: Ceremonial Cacao
I am a healer - a psychotherapist specializing in trauma, grief, and loss. My clinical training is steeped in Western traditions of healing. I am also a seeker. I study Eastern philosophy and energy healing, exploring shamanic practices and ceremonies, exposing myself...
This is Not a Dream: Contemplating Death and Eternal Life
The doctor is holding his hand with tremendous compassion. Looking him right in the eye, just as every dying person deserves. Joining him in his last moment.
After Someone We Love Dies
After someone we love dies, we often receive meaningful signs, especially in the first few days.
The Skill That Saved Me
It started with the love of books. The anticipation each week of going to the library, knowing I’d be allowed to check out four new books. It’s how I survived…
It Has Been Said There Isn’t A Bottom
When I was 10 years old I opened the front door to my home and, in an instant, my whole world fell apart. In Laura Lentz's online writing group, her prompts drawn from mythology stirred my imagination and led me to write the story of what happened in a...
YOU ARE NOT ALONE is offered in print, audiobook, and Kindle.
Words of Comfort is for anyone who is newly grieving or who is still deeply feeling the loss of someone they lost in the past.
Toolbox Video Series
Learn and practice simple techniques to help you feel calm whenever you are anxious.
If you are in need of support, please CLICK HERE for a list of resources.
Crisis Resources
Emergency: 911
These numbers are provided for informational purposes only and may be subject to change.
All numbers are valid for the United States.
- National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:
1 (800) 273-8255
- National Domestic Violence Hotline:
1 (800) 799-7233
- Family Violence Helpline:
1 (800) 966-6228
- National Hopeline Network:
1 (800) 784-2433
- Self-Harm Hotline:
1 (800) 366-8288
- Planned Parenthood Hotline:
1 (800) 230-7526
- American Association of Poison Control Centers:
1 (800) 222-1222
- Alcoholism & Drug Dependency Hope Line:
1 (800) 622-2255
- National Crisis Line, Anorexia and Bulimia:
1 (800) 233-4357
- GLBT Hotline:
1 (888) 843-4564
- TREVOR Crisis Hotline:
1 (866) 488-7386
- AIDS Crisis Line:
1 (800) 221-7044
- Lifeline Crisis Chat:
(Online live messaging): http://www.crisischat.org/
- Crisis Text Line:
Text “START” TO 741-741
- Veterans Crisis
Live chat https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/,
Call 1-800-273-8255 (press 1)
Text 838-255
*This page and my website are not a substitute for psychotherapy or other forms of professional support.