Sadly, I have experienced my fair share of loss over the past four years. My heart broke when I lost my maternal grandmother Ruth in April of 2018: https://www.estherkane.com/in-memory-of-granny-ruth-on-mothers-day/ That was soon followed by the death of one of my fur babies, Ike. And then, a few months … [Read more...] about In Memory of my Father-in-Law, Alan Richman
Grief and Loss
Dealing With Family Cut-Offs
Unfortunately, there is an unending need to explore the complicated issue of family cutoffs or what is commonly referred to as 'familial estrangement'. I have addressed this issue in previous posts. Check them out if you haven't done so … [Read more...] about Dealing With Family Cut-Offs
Living with Loss
Above is a compilation of my favourite pics of my darling Siberian kitties, Abe (grey) and Ike (white) during the blessed years we had to enjoy them. Ike passed a few years ago just before he turned 13 and Abe passed less than two months ago just before he turned 16. I had to wait for the giant surge of … [Read more...] about Living with Loss
How to Manage the Grief of Pregnancy Loss
My Client's Story: October 15th marked Pregnancy Loss and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, so on that day, I wrote about my experience with pregnancy loss and my work to understand my grief and myself. I experienced four recurrent early miscarriages before I found the help I needed to create my family. My … [Read more...] about How to Manage the Grief of Pregnancy Loss
How Can I Deal with my Anger in a Healthy Way?
Therapeutic Letter-Writing: Part 2 As promised from last week’s post, The Magic of the Unsent Letter, I am following up with Part 2: The Sweet Release of Writing a Rant Letter. Every time I give this letter-writing homework, I send them the links to two of my blog posts I’ve written on the subject. … [Read more...] about How Can I Deal with my Anger in a Healthy Way?
Therapeutic Letter-Writing: The Unsent Letter
I’ve decided to write a two-part series on the magic of a form of homework I give to practically ALL of my clients at one or more points on their healing journeys — THE UNSENT LETTER. Every time I give this letter-writing homework, I send them the links to two of my blog posts I’ve written on the subject. The … [Read more...] about Therapeutic Letter-Writing: The Unsent Letter
A Client’s Journey Through Family Cut-Offs
I am so delighted that one of my client’s offered to write the following piece for you about healing from being cut off from her adult children. I wrote What to do when a family member shuts you out last week. I also answered a reader’s question about what to do when you’ve been cut off by a family member … [Read more...] about A Client’s Journey Through Family Cut-Offs
What to do when a family member shuts you out
During my 20+ years as a therapist, I cannot count how many times clients have shared heartbreaking stories of being cut off from family members. What I am referring to specifically is the conscious decision a person makes to cut off contact from another family member for a time- this can range from a few … [Read more...] about What to do when a family member shuts you out