Transforming Grief with Alexandra Kennedy

Program Description

Along with grief, the death of a loved one often brings old resentments, regrets and unexpressed love, which can block our emotional growth and negatively impact our relationships. Alexandra Kennedy shows us how, by using imagination and imagery, we can re-create an inner relationship with our loved ones who have passed away: “If we can access our imagination, we can begin to open to that mystery and allow for things to happen that we don’t understand with our rational mind.” Because our culture is not comfortable with death and its aftermath, we often try to suppress our grief, and yet, as Kennedy points out: “Grief is a process that is trying to heal us.” The best news is, no matter how long it’s been since you lost someone, “it’s never too late to heal, it’s never too late to resolve the unfinished business.”

Kennedy is a psychotherapist and the author of Losing a Parent (HarperSanFrancisco 1991), Your Loved One Lives on Without You: A Beautiful and Inspiring Approach to Handling Unresolved Grief (Berkley Books 1997), The Infinite Thread: Healing Relationship Beyond Loss (Beyond Words 2001), and Offerings at the Edge (iUniverse 2007), To learn more about the work of Alexandra Kennedy go to www.alexandrakennedy.com

Topics Explored in this Dialogue:

• How to keep your living relationships thriving and still allow yourself to grieve
• How to go about “contacting” loved ones who have passed away
• How to help a partner or friend with their grief
• How to help children deal with death
• Why it’s never too late to heal wounds
• How dreams can help in the grieving process
• What are the special gift our pets give us when they die
• How your spiritual connection and/or practices can help you grieve

Program Number: 2629                     Host: Michael Toms                Interview Date: 5/8/1997