SURVIVING THE TSUNAMI OF GRIEF
By Katrina Taee and Wendelien McNicoll
Blog Post

NEW LOVE RELATIONSHIPS FOLLOWING A BEREAVEMENT

Katrina Taee • February 19, 2020

There are three of you in the relationship now

 I saw a few weeks ago that Rio and Kate Ferdinand were on the BBC talking about their new upcoming documentary about being a step-family and everything involved within that new dynamic.  Rio also said this about their relationship, "Describing the online backlash the couple experienced, he sounds hurt. "When you see comments on social media like 'oh he's moved on a bit quick' you think 'well, ok, but I hope you don't have to go through this type of situation'".  This sort of judgement is not uncommon after a bereavement.

Rio let us into his family's life after the death of his first wife in his documentary Being Mum and Dad and it won an award for  Best Single Documentary which was well deserved.  As Counsellors to many individuals in a  hospice Bereavement Care Team, Wendelien and I have come across people who fall in love again and sometimes quite quickly.  As a therapist, I noticed that men who have been very happily married search for that love and comfort again sometimes, quickly.  One way to view it is that it is a tribute to the relationship the person had with their spouse before.  It need not be a negative thing though many might view it as such. 

The important thing is that the new partner embraces the grief and allows it to be openly expressed and present in the home and their new life together.  The bereaved do not forget or 'unlove' someone,  just because they have a new partner.  We love both till the day we die.  It always seemed to me that love is so precious and should anyone be lucky enough to encounter it again, it should be embraced fully because it gives life direction, meaning and purpose.  

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Our Revised Books Have Just Landed

By Katrina Taee • February 9, 2023
Our 3rd Reprint has just arrived with new foreword
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Liz Gleeson, creator of the Shapes of Grief Education Programme

By Katrina Taee • May 5, 2022
Liz Gleeson's new short animated film about some of the common experiences of grief.
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SHAPES OF GRIEF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMME LAUNCH, IRELAND

By Katrina Taee • May 5, 2022
Authors of Surviving the Tsunami of Grief, Wendelien McNicoll and Katrina Taee attend the official launch of Liz Gleeson's Shapes of Grief Education Programme in Greystones, Ireland.
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