RTR Presents: "Grief and Coping with Grief"

Guest John Lee Soap, Jr., Cherokee, and hostess Brenda Golden discuss grief and coping with loss.  Tragically both have lost children in recent years and will share what it means to grieve, what is grief, is there a proper way to grieve, and most of all how to cope with grief.  John has attained higher educational degrees in Counseling while working full time.  He currently works as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor.     Children are not supposed to die...Parents expect to see their children grow and mature. Ultimately, parents expect to die and leave their children behind...This is the natural course of life events, the life cycle continuing as it should. The loss of a child is the loss of innocence, the death of the most vulnerable and dependent. The death of a child signifies the loss of the future, of hopes and dreams, of new strength, and of perfection. - Arnold and Gemma 1994, iv, 9, 39  Death is an experience that is common to all mankind, an experience that touches all members of the human family. Death transcends all cultures and beliefs; there is both commonality and individuality in the grief experience. When a loved one dies, each person reacts differently. A child's death, however, is such a wrenching event that all affected by it express sadness and dismay and are painfully shaken.  Both John and Brenda are part of a White Bison recovery group.  The Wellbriety path does not compete with A.A. or any other pathway of personal recovery, but instead enriches those pathways by embracing them within the web of Native American tribal histories and cultures. http://www.facebook.com/groups/117525848259894/ http://www.athealth.com/consumer/disorders/parentalgrief.html