Michael Dawson, author

Just how are we supposed to manage our grief, in a world that tells us to move on or get over it? Adults return to their jobs too soon, because taking too much time, even if allowed by employers, would mean that something is wrong. Teachers urge children who have lost a parent or a sibling to pay attention in class and threaten punishment, believing that a few weeks is long enough to be distracted by their grief. By middle age, many adults will have both parents die, and will proceed to rear their children without grandparents, living under the unacknowledged banner of adult orphans. Pregnancy loss is trivialized, leaving children confused about whether or not they had a brother or sister, and parents feeling cautious about how much of their pain to reveal to others. Sadly, there is very little user-friendly access to compassionate grief support in our everyday lives.



And while western culture is not well equipped to respond when grief comes into our lives, there is good news: We were made to grieve, and then to heal.

In this book, we introduce you to the needs of grieving children, and propose equine assisted activities that can help meet those needs. We also assume that adults who care for grieving children should not be forgotten. In fact, the success of the grief work of children depends heavily upon the cues they get from the adults who care for them. For this reason, we also propose activities to help the adults help the children, while helping themselves.

My prayer is that families will come to honor grief as a natural, normal process, and that when it is embraced, they might find health and hope.

To order the Horses Healing Grief book and workbook, click here.




When Your Pet Dies