Why the end of addiction is a cause of grief

By Joanna BartlettFebruary 3, 2020April 8, 2020 Grief recovery addiction, sobriety

The end of your addiction is a loss. Yes, you read that right. Recovering from addiction can be a cause of grief. If you’re surprised, you’re not alone. When I talk with clients about the dozens of events in life that can be a cause of loss, they usually nod along as I go down…

Book Review: Grief 2 Growth

By Joanna BartlettJanuary 13, 2020January 13, 2020 Grief recovery book review, books, grief, healing from loss

Grief is a tricky beast. We all grieve, it’s one of the realities of life. We all weather emotional wounds. Yet we’re not very good at sitting with our grief and loss or working through it. Grief 2 Growth by Brian D. Smith is a short, practical, compassionate book on grief and how it can…

8 signs you’re not actually over your last relationship

By Joanna BartlettJanuary 6, 2020January 2, 2020 Grief recovery divorce, grief recovery, relationships

When you say, “I do,” there’s a lot packed into those two words. There are your vows, of course, whether they’re the traditional “to have and to hold,” or you wrote your own, or they come from a different lineage. You usually make a whole lot of promises in wedding vows. And (hopefully) you mean…

How to have an emotionally healthy surgery

By Joanna BartlettDecember 9, 2019December 3, 2019 Grief recovery, Personal growth grief recovery, healing, health issues

My reproductive system had been causing me significant pain for months. It was time to deal with the cause and not just the symptoms. It was time for a hysterectomy. We’d had a lot of ups and downs in our relationship together, my reproductive system and me. Periods so painful as a teenager that I…

Are you tired of trying to distract yourself from your pain?

By Joanna BartlettOctober 14, 2019October 12, 2019 Grief recovery, Personal growth avoiding pain, childhood pain, pain

Almost 20 years ago, I heard a speaker at my church talk about the ways we try to distract ourselves from pain. These often end up developing addictive or maladaptive behaviors that not only don’t help, but actively get in the way of having a happy life. I was in my early 20s and it…

Want to heal from your past? Learn the 5 myths of forgiveness

By Joanna BartlettSeptember 16, 2019September 16, 2019 Grief recovery, Healing, Personal growth

Forgiveness. It’s a loaded word and often a misunderstood one. Forgiveness is also an incredible gift. It’s one you give to yourself, not to the person who hurt you. That’s one of the myths of forgiveness, the widely believed falsehoods that might be keeping you from doing this important work to free yourself from the…

The grief of moving: why you’re still carrying the weight of your past homes

By Joanna BartlettJune 13, 2019June 13, 2019 Grief recovery grief, healing from loss, loss

Major grief can come from moving. Whether it’s from moving homes many times, especially growing up, or a major move from a place you’ve lived for a long time.

What is that grief and where does it come from?

The true pain of divorce: your lost hopes, dreams and expectations

By Joanna BartlettMay 29, 2019May 29, 2019 Grief recovery divorce, grief and loss, grief recovery method, healing, healing from loss

I remember the moment during my second divorce when I realized I was going to need to grieve the loss of my marriage and heal from the circumstances that caused me to divorce to begin with. I didn’t want to bring the pain into my next relationship. I wanted to be able to love fully…

When pain stops you from doing the healing work you need to do

By Joanna BartlettMay 20, 2019May 18, 2019 Grief recovery

When I lead people through the process of healing the pain of past losses, there are two pitfalls they commonly encounter. Getting overwhelmed and wanting to stop Not going deep enough Often, they’re able to surmount these obstacles, by trusting the process and finding the courage to keep going. But sometimes it keeps them from…

The reasons why it hurts so much when a not-so-loved-one dies

By Joanna BartlettMarch 11, 2019March 11, 2019 Grief recovery grief recovery, grieving

When someone you have a difficult relationship with dies, it can be just as hard as the loss of someone you love.
Sounds strange? It’s true. Here’s why.