Mother’s Day Resources
Mother's Day can be one of the most painful days of the year when you're grieving the loss of your mom. Whether your loss was recent or years ago, the reminders are everywhere and it may feel heavy. You don't have to navigate it alone. Below you'll find a collection of resources including books, support groups, and articles to help you find comfort, connection, and support this Mother's Day and beyond. If you're looking for more personalized support, our counseling services are here to walk alongside you through grief, not just this season, but every step of the way. You deserve support that meets you where you are. Reach out today.
Web Articles
Coping with losing a parent - Calabasas Counseling
Dear Daughter - Jennifer White
"A Letter to My Daughters on Mother's Day: Mother's Day After a Death" - What's Your Grief
"Mother's Day Grief: Life Without a Mother's Love" - What's Your Grief
"Spending Mother's Day With Ghosts: Mother's Day Grief" - What's Your Grief
Books
Motherless Daughters by Hope Edelman. Da Capo Lifelong Books; Third Edition, 20th Anniversary Edition edition (April 8, 2014). — "Motherless Daughters sheds light on an experience--the loss of a mother at any age, but especially at a young age--that is by definition lonely and shadowy. Through thoughtful, in-depth research, and with her companionable voice, Edelman has brought solace to thousands of women over the years, creating a sense of community in the midst of grief." - Meghan O'Rourke, author of The Long Goodbye.
A Mother Loss Workbook: Healing Exercises for Daughters by Diane Hambrook. William Morrow Paperbacks; 1st edition (October 7, 1997) — “A Mother Loss Workbook is designed to help the motherless daughter tell the story she needs to tell--her story. Its varied exercises, open-ended questions, writing topics, and activities, drawn from Hambrook's years of work with motherless daughters, provide both careful direction and generous room for self-expression.”
Several reader reviews indicate this is more relevant for daughters who lost their mom when they were in childhood or adolescence.
The Dead Mom’s Club: About Death, Grief and Surviving The Mother of all Losses by Kate Spencer.
“Kate Spencer lost her mom to cancer when she was 27. In The Dead Moms Club, she walks readers through her experience of stumbling through grief and loss, and helps them to get through it, too. This isn't a weepy, sentimental story, but rather a frank, up-front look at what it means to go through gruesome grief and come out on the other side.”
Healing After the Loss of Your Mother: A Grief & Comfort Manual by Elaine Mallon 2018.
“I was drawn to this book because I have an aging mother with health issues. She is not ill, just aging. My husband also read the book to prepare for his mother's imminent death. She is 92 and we're starting to see signs of dementia… Its as much about being gentle with yourself as it is dealing with the loss...”
Easy Read, well organized, encourages community support, also has a FB group
Short chapters (good for grievers’ difficulty with concentration)
Ch 3: 12 pg list of what to expect
Ch 12-14: What the supporters need to know and do for the griever (your client can copy this and give to a friend to distribute to help support).
Nobody's Child: How Older Women Say Good-Bye to Their Mothers by Diane Sher Lutovich. Baywood Pub Co March 15, 2001.
Reader review: ”Grief is so personal, and so overwhelming. This book captures so much of the experience specific to older women losing their mother-- and it is a different experience. An older woman's relationship with her mother changes, evolves, deepens with the passage of time, and all of this plays into the eventual loss. This book shares snippets of stories that illustrate the common ground, and some of the variations of how that all manifests.”
The author interviewed women ages 50-68 yrs old whose mother’s had died between the ages of 70-97 yrs old.
Facebook Groups
(Request to join)
Healing After the Loss of Your Mother (35k+ members)
“Healing After the Loss of Your Mother -- Grief Support is a closed group & sacred space that offers comfort and community following your mother's death. As a community, we are here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.”
Grieving the Loss of Your Mother Support Group (20k+ members)
“This is a SAFE and special place to give and receive comfort and support for anyone that has lost or is losing their mom.”
Mother Loss – Grieving Daughters (15k+ members)
“This page is for ladies who have lost their mothers to any circumstance (disease, accident, etc). It provides a safe place to come to share your feelings while leaning on each other for support."
Loss of Mother Support Group (3k+ members)
“I decided to create this group to support others who have lost their mothers as my family has. Please feel free to add others, post pictures, stories, words of encouragement, etc. I would also like to eventually have get togethers and come up with new traditions.”
Grieving Daughters Missing Their Mothers (10k+ members)
“The primary reason for this group is to assist and help women and also children who have lost their mother. Every woman or young lady needs to know that there's support out there to help them get through the lost of losing their mother. The pain of losing a mother isn't an easy process to go through. There may be times where you are scared, feel alone, and feel that no one understands the pain of you not having your mother anymore. This group will assist in allowing various women all across the world tell their story of how they are able to overcome the pain and get beyond the grief. To share how much their mother meant to them and what assist and helps them get through the day...Its a support network to show that there's women that truly care, and can understand the emotions that come along with grieving over the Mother that was there for you.”