Resources

The Center for Loss & Renewal believes that self help is a critical component to any therapy. This page contains links and references to resources we believe are credible and useful for coping with change and loss.

ORGANIZATIONS:
American Cancer Society
Information on cancer, including coping with a long-term illness and dealing with grief and loss after death from cancer.

BP/USA-Bereaved Parents of the USA
Nationwide organization designed to aid and support bereaved parents and their families who are struggling to survive their grief after the death of a child.

National SIDS/Infant Death Resource Center
8201 Greensboro Drive, Suite 600, McLean, VA, 22102.
Phone (866) 866-7437.

Office of Victims of Crime Resource Center, National Criminal Justice Reference Service
US Dept. of Justice
Box 600, Rockville, MD 20850. Phone (800) 851-3420.

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
National organization dedicated to advancing the art and science of end-of-life care.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to advancing our knowledge of suicide and our ability to prevent it. The Kids Place Non-profit charity devoted to providing grief support services to children, ages 5 through teens, who are mourning the death of a family member or friend.

CRISIS HOTLINES:
CRISISLINK Hotline 800-784-2433
Northern Virginia Hotline 703-527-4077 (24 Hours)
Alexandria Hotline - (703) 527-4077 (24 hours)
Arlington County Hotline - (703) 358-4848 (24 hours)
Fairfax County Hotline - 703-573-5679 (24 hours)

NARCOTICS:
Narcotics Abuse 24 Hour Helpline & Treatment - 1(800) 234-0420

ALCOHOLISM:
NORTHERN VIRGINIA INTERGROUP 8501 LEE HIGHWAY FAIRFAX VA 22031 703 876-6166 info@nvintergroup.org http://www.nvintergroup.org

DOMESTIC/PARTNER VIOLENCE:
Domestic Violence Hotline 1[800] 799.7233 http://www.ndvh.org

SUICIDE HOTLINE:
National Suicide Hotline 1-800-SUICIDE / 1-800-784-2433

SEXUAL ASSAULT & RAPE:
Virginia Family Violence & Sexual Assault Hotline 1[800] 838.8238 http://www.vadv.org

Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) 1-800-656-HOPE

SEXUAL HEALTH RESOURCES:
HIV/STD/Viral Hepatitis (Virginia) 1[800] 533.4148 http://www.vdh.state.va.us/std/index.htm

Planned Parenthood [703] 533.5651 http://www.plannedparenthood.org

CDC National HIV & AIDS Hotline - 1(800) 342-AIDS (24 hours) http://www.ashastd.org/nah/ http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/dstd/hotlines.htm/

Virginia STD/AIDS Hotline 1-800-533-4148

MISCELLANEOUS:
Gamblers Anonymous - (301) 961-1313 (24 hours - meeting information)

Nicotine Anonymous - (703) 978-7545

VICTIM ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS:
Alexandria Victim Assistance Program - (703) 838-4100

Arlington Victim/Witness Services - (703) 228-4558 Fairfax

Victim/Witness Assistance - (703)246-2141 Child Abuse Hotline - (202) 628-FACT (3228)

BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS:
1. But I Love Him: Protecting Your Teen Daughter from Controlling, Abusive Dating Relationships by Jill Murray
One in three girls will be in a controlling, abusive dating relationship before she graduates from high school - from verbal or emotional abuse to sexual abuse or physical battering. Is your daughter in danger? Visit Abuse: Physical, Emotional, Sexual, Neglect.

2. Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnosis of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, Asperger's, Depression, and Other Disorders by Edward Amend, Nadia Webb, and Jean Goerss Physicians, psychologist, and counselors are unaware of characteristics of gifted children and adults that mimic pathological diagnoses. Six nationally prominent health care professionals describe ways parents and professionals can distinguish between gifted behaviors and pathological behaviors. Visit ADD/ADHD, Teen Depression, and Bipolar Disorder.

3. The Scarred Soul: Understanding and Ending Self-Inflicted Violence by Tracy Alderman Written for the victims of this addiction -- and for mental health professionals -- The Scarred Soul explores the reasons behind this behavior and shows how to overcome the psychological traps that lead to self-destructive acts. Visit Self-Injury.

4.How I Stayed Alive when My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me: One Person's Guide to Suicide Prevention by Susan Rose Blauner An international epidemic, suicide has touched the lives of nearly half of all Americans, yet is rarely talked about openly. Susan Blauner, a survivor of multiple suicide attempts, breaks the silence to offer guidance and hope for those contemplating ending their lives - and for their loved ones. Here is an essential resource destined to be the classic guide on the subject of suicide. A portion of the book's proceeds will go to the National Hopeline Network/National Suicide Hotline (1-800-SUICIDE). Visit Teen Suicide.

5. A Resilient Life: You Can Move Ahead No Matter What by Gordon MacDonald. At a young age, Gordon MacDonald recognized that he had inherited a "quitter's gene," and because of this - and an influential track coach - he began a lifelong quest for answers. "Why," he had to ask, "do some people finish what they start, persevere in moments of adversity, push themselves in the direction of their potential, and often make their greatest contributions in the latter half of life? Why do others expect to retire from life when they reach their senior years?" The key element in those who don't quit is resilience. Those who have it, MacDonald insists, have gathered all the lessons from life - successes and failures - to build a foundation of strength and character, preparing them to face anything. Visit Inspiration and Motivation.

6. Saving Beauty from the Beast: How to Protect Your Daughter from an Unhealthy Relationship by Vicki Crompton and Ellen Zelda Kessner. After her teenage daughter was killed by a boyfriend in 1986, Crompton set out to educate the public about teen dating violence. Along the way, she met magazine writer Kessner, whose own daughter had been murdered as an adult. This earnest, impassioned book, a product of their friendship and collaboration, illuminates the problems of dangerous relationships by describing their characteristics, mapping out warning signs of abuse and offering sound advice for parents seeking to empower their daughters. Visit Teen Violence.

7.Conquering the Mysteries and Lies of Grief by Sherry Russell Conquering the Mysteries and Lies of Grief presents an innovative investigation into loss. Being based on hundreds of interviews along with personal experience, the book clarifies how and why grief catapults us into a crisis, threatening our mental, physical, and spiritual health. Through the revealing frank conversations, you discover fresh information on how to take an active role in your grief, while adjusting to new realities. You learn how to handle the "snootful of shoulds" while finding out the variables that make your grief so unique. Grief takes you on a bizarre maze like journey allowing you to explore and plow through your pain to get to a life filled with goals and not despair. Conquering the Mysteries and Lies of Grief does not tiptoe around the powerful reality of grief. Grief is miserable, unpredictable, and intimidating work, however, by understanding the domino effect of loss you can go on to live a life of graciousness and radiance.

8. I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One by Brook Noel, Pamela D. Blair Each year about eight million Americans suffer the death of a close family member. The list of high visibility disasters, human suffering and sudden loss is long and will continue to grow. From TWA Flight 800 to Egypt Air, from Oklahoma City to Columbine, daily we face incomprehensible loss. Outside the publicized tragedies there are many families and individuals that are suffering behind closed doors in our neighborhoods, in our own homes, in hospital waiting rooms. Now for those who face the challenges of sudden death, there is a hand to hold. Both authors lost a loved one tragically. Noel's brother was stung by a bee and died instantly at age 27. Blair's husband died of a brain aneurysm. As they struggled to rebuild they found little printed material. I Wasn't Ready to Say Good-bye is the first book to devote all its pages to the unique challenges of sudden loss, written by two women who have walked the path. They cover such difficult topics as the first few weeks, suicide, death of a child, when a body isn't found, children and grief, funerals and rituals, physical effects, homicide, depression and many others.

9. Tear Soup by Pat Schweibert, et al

10. Final Gifts : Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying by MAGGIE CALLANAN, PATRICIA KELLEY Five years after its first publication, with more than 150,000 copies in print, Final Gifts has become a classic. In this moving and compassionate book, hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley share their intimate experiences with patients at the end of life, drawn from more than twenty years experience tending the terminally ill. Through their stories we come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; we also discover the gifts--of wisdom, faith, and love--that the dying leave for the living to share. Filled with practical advice on responding to the requests of the dying and helping them prepare emotionally and spiritually for death, Final Gifts shows how we can help the dying person live fully to the very end.

11. Necessary Losses: The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies, and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow -- by Judith Viorst; In Necessary Losses, Judith Viorst turns her considerable talents to a serious and far-reaching subject: how we grow and change through the losses that are an inevitable and necessary part of life. She argues persuasively that through the loss of our mothers' protection, the loss of the impossible expectations we bring to relationships, the loss of our younger selves, and the loss of our loved ones through separation and death, we gain deeper perspective, true maturity, and fuller wisdom about life. She has written a book that is both life affirming and life changing.