<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Hope and Grief: Finding Light Amidst the Darkness]]></title><description><![CDATA[We seek to uplift and inspire those in mourning as well as those who counsel the hearts of the bereaved. ]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 08 Jun 2026 06:52:29 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.ericasirrine.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Our Pandemic Grief (...our weary hearts)]]></title><description><![CDATA[One Year Ago... Last September (2020), I wrote a blog post about the losses we were experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When I drafted that article, I didn't expect to write a similar reminder just one year later. Yet, here we are…amid an ever-raging pandemic...feeling tremendous grief and mourning the cumulative losses we have acquired over the past 18 months. My dear readers, our hearts are weary. Our spirits are fatigued. Our grief feels heavy. Loss has become a common thread in our...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/our-pandemic-grief-our-weary-hearts</link><guid isPermaLink="false">612c2f8d28422900160a1772</guid><pubDate>Wed, 01 Sep 2021 13:40:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f26bcb_af7e5ab323504ee0983f9a4eb455b82f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_694,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Continuing Bonds of Love after Loss]]></title><description><![CDATA[Have you ever wondered why grief feels so hard…why our heart literally aches after the death of someone we love? Many years ago, when psychologists and social scientists first tried to understand how humans cope with loss, they hypothesized that we should completely detach ourselves from the person who died to heal our grief. Thankfully, theorists now agree that avoidance and denial are not effective (or healthy) ways to process grief. Humans are created for connection, and our daily lives...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/continuing-bonds-of-love-after-loss</link><guid isPermaLink="false">602834b1d0ae6b0076d00f5d</guid><pubDate>Sun, 14 Feb 2021 15:00:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f26bcb_b48dcc36015c48caa1fcfaa55ca16755~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grief in the Holidays]]></title><description><![CDATA[When we’re grieving the loss of a loved one, the holiday season can be difficult to navigate. The holidays are laden with nostalgia, prompting us to reflect on memories of holidays past. While many recollections of our loved ones are positive or joyful, we may also be grieving a complicated relationship where the resulting memories are harder to process. The felt absence of our loved ones can be palpable during this time of year. And, our resulting grief reactions are likely stronger and more...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/grief-in-the-holidays</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f8e112111a27d0017740b24</guid><pubDate>Wed, 16 Dec 2020 15:42:47 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7334b294d24249dd8ffc17e0cea7b498.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The "In-Between"]]></title><description><![CDATA[I spent last weekend with new friends who know, all too well, what it’s like to live in the “in-between” spaces of life. Have you ever been there? In the “in-between?” Most of us are frequent visitors to this place, whether we realize it or not. The “in-between” reveals itself in different situations for each of us, but it can often be found near… Diagnosis Separation Divorce Death Illness Pandemic Loss Troubling Circumstances It reflects the spaces in our lives where we courageously face...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/the-in-between</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5fb5a9618fb630001793003f</guid><pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2020 15:52:03 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_ee1160121ef8445a8cbf2099e3e55c68~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The "Stages" of Grief]]></title><description><![CDATA[Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance ("DABDA") Has anyone ever told you that grief should follow these predictable and orderly stages? If yes, I'm pretty sure this post is going to shake a few things up for you! In the paraphrased words of Dr. Maya Angelou, "...when you know better, do better." Let's take a couple of minutes to challenge one of the biggest misconceptions about grief, so we can better help ourselves and our friends through experiences of loss. I have a feeling you...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/the-stages-of-grief</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f9b5fc66795c200173349b0</guid><pubDate>Sat, 31 Oct 2020 14:01:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_64b134b45b5c4baeb1b280acea305002~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[It's okay, to not be okay.]]></title><description><![CDATA[Today is World Mental Health Day (10/10), and it's no secret the pandemic has taken a toll on us in many ways, including our mental health. It's hard to put into words exactly what we feel because we live in a culture where we rarely talk about our feelings, let alone FEEL them. Our society struggles with witnessing and supporting the authentic expression of raw emotions, and these are not in short supply amid the pandemic. My dear readers, we are all living in one of the largest loss events...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/its-okay-to-not-be-okay</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f81c559b98c3a001855ff05</guid><pubDate>Sat, 10 Oct 2020 15:44:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_80ac30e34eb143daa8592d75b0ce9c7d~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Grief Survival Kit]]></title><description><![CDATA[I'm a grief counselor. I created this blog to shed light on our losses, and I get paid to train mental health practitioners and survivors about grief. A few weeks ago, I even wrote an article about the laziness of grief and another about the non-death losses that we experience. Yet, I neglected to recognize the symptoms of grief in myself until this week. I began feeling fatigued and exhausted...with everything. Each email, meeting, or conversation took more effort and energy than usual.  I...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/grief-survival-kit</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f6bd6c9fd4d1a00179429c6</guid><pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2020 20:27:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f2498095175a4b60b527242a06511680.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Search for Meaning]]></title><description><![CDATA[Life is complex. Can I get an, Amen?!? "Back to Life, Back to Reality." In the past two weeks, we’ve resumed classes at the university where I teach, and I’ve spent an incredible amount of energy adjusting back to my “pre-pandemic” lifestyle with “mid-pandemic” realities. This consists of (very) long workdays, constant mask-wearing, and getting re-acquainted with “regular” workplace attire, including clothing with buttons and zippers (why aren’t leggings and t-shirts acceptable anymore???)....]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/the-search-for-meaning</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f54e0e5ac15e30017982ae0</guid><pubDate>Thu, 10 Sep 2020 20:55:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_fe44b99a39644317b1518f43415a4a69~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[10 Myths About Grief]]></title><description><![CDATA[As a clinical social worker and grief counselor, my clients have taught me a great deal about life, love, and loss over the past 18 years. Their experiences have also revealed many well-intentioned myths about grief and loss that continue to permeate our society. Unfortunately, these misconceptions (and the pressure to adhere to them) often complicate our healing. So, let’s dispel some of these myths today! There are MANY misconceptions, but I only have the time and word count to list (and...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/10-myths-about-grief</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f45a81bfb8ab600171bde10</guid><pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 2020 19:45:35 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f26bcb_2aebbe24909144a18031c91cab63b3ce~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Are Grieving and Mourning the Same? ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most people use the terms grief and mourning synonymously. But, there's a subtle (and often undiscussed) distinction between the two. If we apply this knowledge to our own experiences of loss, it can change the trajectory of our healing and help us better understand our grief. The dictionary defines grief as “deep sorrow,” whereas mourning is defined as the “act of sorrowing.” Grief refers to the internal thoughts and feelings (i.e., sorrow, fear, anger, exhaustion, regret…) we experience...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/are-grieving-and-mourning-the-same</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f3dbc2dc402fc0017684668</guid><pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2020 13:01:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_62777467616c364d4a4c4d~mv2_d_6015_3800_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA["The Laziness of Grief"]]></title><description><![CDATA[“And no one ever told me about the laziness of grief. Except at my job - where the machine seems to run on much as usual - I loathe the slightest effort.”- C.S.Lewis Exhaustion, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, lack of motivation, loss of productivity….do any of these sound familiar? Like C.S. Lewis described after his wife's death, many of us have expressed similar symptoms of loss. Some grief counselors refer to this phenomenon as the “lethargy of grief.” In a (very scholarly) word, I...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/the-laziness-of-grief</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f35bb3a8e38e5001706494f</guid><pubDate>Fri, 14 Aug 2020 14:26:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_151884cfb81f4c78aa17217668d8b09c~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[You’re not “going crazy,” you are grieving. ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Over the past few months, many people have shared their experiences of living through the quarantine and pandemic. Loss- and its resulting grief- has been a common thread in many of our stories. We’ve battled illness, lost jobs, experienced the death of family members and friends to COVID-19, packed up college dorm rooms early, experienced isolation and loneliness, graduated without ceremonies, delivered babies alone, mourned without funerals, lost relationships and friendships, postponed...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/you-are-grieving</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f2c837e343385001713a414</guid><pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2020 12:42:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_477a305078425950667338~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Is Death the Only Loss We Grieve?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Different Types of Loss I teach a death and dying course at a university....which I promise isn't quite as scary as it sounds! On the first day, I ask students to identify various types of loss, and they quickly select death as the most common, followed by divorce. When I ask them to dive deeper, they begin to consider other losses like: unemployment miscarriage loss of a friendship or relationship infertility loss of a dream or goal chronic illness physical injury or amputation military...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/other-losses</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f22116d5b96150017d3eed2</guid><pubDate>Fri, 31 Jul 2020 13:41:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_6b6a3878595f3263697477~mv2_d_5472_3648_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Reconciliation and Loss]]></title><description><![CDATA[In my last post (“Get Over It…???”), I mentioned it might be unrealistic to expect ourselves and our friends to “get over” our losses. So, if it isn’t possible to neatly box up our grief and never open it again, what should we do instead? AN ALTERNATIVE TO "GETTING OVER IT" Rather than encouraging ourselves and our friends to “get over it,” let’s consider another alternative toward healing. Merriam-Webster defines reconciliation as “the process of finding a way to make two different ideas,...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/reconciliation-and-loss</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f1858e72491b70017bef119</guid><pubDate>Fri, 24 Jul 2020 14:00:24 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f26bcb_41b48bb898da46a18ccab43b7f641ed9~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA["Get Over It...???"]]></title><description><![CDATA[If I had a swear jar, there are three words I would make more costly than the others. Because when we are in grief, this phrase is too-often accompanied by a hefty price tag that can cost us our healing. So, what are these three words (that I did not hide very well in the title of this post)? Yep, you guessed it.....:) "Get Over It!" Be warned, these three well-intentioned words are often disguised in the following politer versions including, "It's been a while since your mom died. Don't you...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/get-over-it</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f0e354e8c01fe0017dac25d</guid><pubDate>Fri, 17 Jul 2020 14:06:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11062b_57ca99ce3c494f2ab8842368d019bfb0~mv2_d_1920_1429_s_2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Courage vs. Fear: The Same Coin?]]></title><description><![CDATA[I’m a pretty motivated person who some might affectionately refer to as “Type A.” I’ve felt called to write a blog (and eventually a book for adult survivors of loss) for many years. Yet, here we are…years later and only three posts into the blog. Why do we wait to pursue our dreams? Or, why did I wait on mine?                      In a word..........FEAR. I’m courageous in many ways. I grew up in the theatre, so I can speak to large groups of people with ease. I completed a doctoral degree...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/courage-vs-fear-the-same-coin</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f04d0c692c2400017e214a0</guid><pubDate>Sat, 11 Jul 2020 13:46:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_4e62556f6b757730425149~mv2_d_2423_3233_s_4_2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Our Shared Humanity. Our Collective Grief.]]></title><description><![CDATA[As a clinical social worker, grief counselor, and thanatologist (fancy word for a person who specializes in death, dying, and bereavement), I have worked with many individuals who have lived with a terminal illness and have journeyed alongside even more survivors as they mourned the loss of their loved one following death. I have observed grief in its rawest forms. I have borne witness to people who do the hard (and utterly painful) work of mourning, while I have watched others attempt to...]]></description><link>https://www.ericasirrine.com/post/our-shared-humanity-our-collective-grief</link><guid isPermaLink="false">5f04815a98399500174b7bbd</guid><pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 2020 14:43:43 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f5dc791973474ca8a988e3ef134dadf4.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Dr. Erica H. Sirrine</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>