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In addition to the content you’ll find here, check out my podcast Grief Talk w/ Vonne Solis, Everything you want to know about grief and more for current content and great conversations with inspiring guests! Stream or download the audio on your favourite podcast player or check out the episodes on YouTube!

Welcome

Welcome to Good Griever! I’m Vonne Solís. I started this blog so that whether you are new to grief or have been living with it for years, you will find information and resources here to support you in a variety of ways. One thing is certain. There’s always something new to learn about grief and share with others.

As a bereaved mom of a daughter who died by suicide in 2005, it’s been my desire to help others grieving. Having spent years trying to find inner peace, I remain passionate about sharing whatever information I learn to  help others on their healing journey. You can read more about what I do at www.vonnesolis.com.

When my daughter died at age 22, this type of public space wasn’t available. Today, we can freely access information online about what grief is really like and part of my mission is to make this information available. Not only does this empower you as a griever in your journey to heal, but it also contributes to a cultural shift in awareness and attitude that can lead to better support for the bereaved. Everyone, one day, will be a griever. We need to start talking more openly about death and grief.

In June 2018, I spoke at the first ever conference for the bereaved in Ottawa, Canada. My topic was Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Grief. The room was packed. It was clear people wanted and need more information about all aspects of the grief experience.

On this blog and now on my podcast, it remains my passion to share information and resources on a variety of topics related to loss and grief to inform, inspire and empower you through your own healing journey.

Vonne

Community

Many people are at a loss when a death occurs. They have no idea how to prepare for the experience. I didn’t either. Being thrown into grief from sudden loss is like finding yourself tumbling down a rabbit hole. Everything is distorted. Nothing makes sense anymore.

The fact that we don’t talk about grief in our society has ensured there is a serious lack of support for grievers in all areas of community. Having gone through a number of experiences in grief, including: coping with secondary losses, relationship breakdowns, other family deaths, living with PTSD, work disability, I know just how difficult it is to stand up for ourselves to have our needs met in every facet of this experience.

On this blog, I’ll be talking about all this and more to help  grievers feel supported and manifest the life they want. One step at a time.

Grief in general is difficult. Complicated grief from tragic and sudden loss presents us with some of the toughest lessons we will ever face as human beings. Sometimes the grief challenges us only to survive. Other times, the lessons we can take from our suffering can feel like a complicated mix of humility and gratitude for the experience that brought us our pain. Much of the time it just feels like the unbearable emptiness that it is.

Yet, living with sorrow and pain is not in our best interest. I know first-hand how conflicting it feels wanting to feel joy after loss. However, we owe ourselves the right to heal from our pain and embrace the abundant life that can be ours.

Whether your world has recently been turned upside down by grief or you are well on your way to rebuilding, wanting to live a fulfilling life after loss has many rewards. Not least, the emotional freedom that comes when we choose to let go of our pain and embrace the opportunities that await.

While the journey isn’t easy after loss, it is worth us rising to the challenge of striving to be the best we can be, despite what’s happened to us. The Good Griever community invites you to soak up whatever information you find on this site that feels comforting in your healing, remembering there’s no right or wrong way to feel or to grieve.

Grief changes along the way.  While it’s true that no one grieves exactly the same way, we do all cope with many of the same emotions after loss, though to varying degrees amidst our own unique circumstances. Whatever our differences are, I hope you’ll find this information helpful as you move forward in your healing.

Blessings,

Vonne

Blog

How wide are your wings? How to own your authenticity and increase your joy!

I struggled a little deciding whether to tackle a subject like this when the world feels so harsh right now. Like countless others, I feel sad at the general state of affairs. Many of us are no doubt feeling vulnerable, considering all the current global events and what if’s that we have zero control over. …

What the (*) ? I now have 2 disorders. Prolonged Grief Disorder just became a real thing!

I had a rather shocking, but welcoming surprise last week. What has commonly been referred to in the therapy community as complicated grief has now been recognized as a real mental health condition. It is called prolonged grief disorder (read more here) and was recently entered into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders …