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Grief Resources

Written by Rue Wilson, EdD

This grief resource is a compiled list of books, movies, podcasts, and online supports designed to offer comfort, understanding, and guidance for those mourning the death of a loved one. The collection includes practical tools for coping, moving reflections on love and loss, and reminders that no one has to walk through grief alone. Some of the content can be quite intense, and we encourage readers to consider talking with a counselor or trusted professional to help process their reactions and emotions.

Campus Supports

  • CAMHS – Counseling and Mental Health Services at Harvard
    • CAMHS offers short-term counseling and aims to support Harvard students’ mental wellbeing and adjustment. Participation in one of our groups or workshops provides a confidential, safe, and supportive space to discuss your concerns and learn coping skills with others. We are located on the 4th floor of HUHS in the Smith Campus Center. To find out more, please call: (617)-495 2042, a 24/7 support line.
  • Grieving and Coping Together – An in-person, weekly support group for students.
    • This is a supportive process group where students can discuss coping and grieving with regard to a significant loss, specifically the death of a loved one, whether recent or in the past. It is open to all registered Harvard students (undergrad or graduate). It is not a drop-in group. If you have any questions, please email Rue Wilson, EdD, CAMHS clinician, at rwilson@huhs.harvard.edu (please provide your HUID). A brief screening call can be scheduled.
  • Harvard Chaplains
    • The Harvard Chaplains, a professional community of more than forty chaplains, represent many of the world’s religious, spiritual, and ethical traditions, and share a collective commitment to serving the spiritual needs of the students, faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and staff of Harvard University. Confidential support and guidance are available.
    • Phone: (617) 495-5529
    • Office Email: chaplains@harvard.edu
    • Or connect with a specific Chaplain: https://chaplains.harvard.edu/people

Podcasts, Online Resources, TED Talks, and more

  • All There Is With Anderson Cooper
    • The podcast began after Cooper himself experienced profound losses—including his father, brother, and mother—and found healing in sharing stories and hearing from others. One of the best grief resources out there.
  • Terrible, Thanks for Asking with Nora McInerny
    • A brutally honest and often funny podcast about hard things—including death, grief, and emotional survival. Nora herself lost her husband, father, and unborn baby within weeks.
    • Great for: Honest stories, dark humor, vulnerability.
  • Griefcast with Cariad Lloyd
    • A British podcast where comedians and guests talk candidly about grief and death. It’s conversational, warm, and sometimes surprisingly funny.
    • Great for: A gentle, witty approach to tough topics.
  • The Good Mourning Podcast with Sally Douglas & Imogen Carn
    • Two young women who each lost their mothers unexpectedly. The show explores grief with empathy, featuring guests from psychologists to celebrities.
    • Great for: Modern, relatable stories, especially from women navigating young adult grief.
  • This American Life (episodes that feature stories about grief and loss)
    • Episode 597: One Last Thing Before I Go – Features the story about a phone booth in Japan that attracts thousands of people who lost loved ones in the 2011 tsunami. People speak to loved ones in a phone booth whose phone is not connected to anything.
      • Inspired the Wind Phone movement: https://www.mywindphone.com/ Instagram:@mywindphone A wind phone is a rotary or push-button phone located in a secluded spot in nature, usually within a booth-type structure and often next to a chair or bench.
    • Episode 738: Good Grief – Intense stories of people figuring out how they will grieve. Features a father whose 3-year-old son died, families who have lost loved ones to COVID, and mourners who visit a memorial to George Floyd.
    • Episode 765 – Off Course – Features the episode “The Year of Manic-al Thinking”. After the unexpected death of Casy Wilson’s Mom, both Casey and her father felt devastated and unmoored. But their grief took them on two wildly different paths.
  • Lucy Kalanithi TED Talk: What Makes Life Worth Living in the Face of Death
    • In this deeply moving talk, Lucy Kalanithi reflects on life and purpose, sharing the story of her late husband, Paul, a young neurosurgeon who turned to writing after his terminal cancer diagnosis. “Engaging in the full range of experience — living and dying, love and loss — is what we get to do,” Kalanithi says. “Being human doesn’t happen despite suffering — it happens within it.”
  • Grief Out Loud with Dougy Center
    • A blend of personal stories and grief education. Episodes cover everything from sudden loss to suicide, illness, and anticipatory grief.
    • Great for: Learning and healing, especially for families and caregivers.
  • What’s Your Grief? With Eleanor Haley & Litsa Williams
    • Two mental health professionals with a ton of expertise in grief support. Each episode explores coping tools, emotional reactions, and myths about grief.
    • Great for: People who want emotional support and understanding.
  • Here After with Megan Devine (author of It’s OK That You’re Not OK)
    • This show blends deep wisdom with real conversation around loss, trauma, and how to support others.
    • Great for: Deep thinkers, trauma-informed perspectives.
  • Unlocking Us with Brené Brown (select episodes)
    • While not solely about grief, Brené’s episodes with David Kessler (Finding Meaning) and others offer incredible insight into loss and connection.
    • Great for: Big-picture reflection and personal growth.

Support Online

  • Actively Moving Forward
    • Actively Moving Forward (AMF) is a national network created in response to the needs of grieving young adults. Digital resources, including the AMF app, connect young adults to a variety of supports and resources.
  • Modern Loss – candid conversation about grief; beginners welcome
    • Offers relatable, candid articles, conversations, book recommendations, grief tools, and community – often with a conversational tone that resonates with younger adults.
  • The Dinner Party Group
    • A U.S.-based nonprofit that offers peer-led grief support specifically for young adults, typically ages 21 to 40, who have experienced the death of a loved one. Founded in 2010 by Lennon Flowers and Carla Fernandez, it began with a backyard potluck where strangers-turned-fellow-grievers discovered that talking about loss over a shared meal could inspire connection, understanding, and healing.
  • Samaritans – support for those impacted by suicide.
    • Losing a loved one to suicide is a painful and difficult experience. Samaritans is here to offer suicide loss survivors nonjudgmental listening and peer support. They provide many programs to support survivors in their grieving.

Books

  • The Year of Magical Thinking, written by Joan Didion (2007)
    • Written after the sudden death of her husband, and during her daughter’s severe illness, Didion reflects on love, loss, and the disorienting nature of mourning. Didion captures the “magical thinking” that accompanies grief—the irrational hope that the impossible might still be undone.
  • Coping with Sibling Loss in Adulthood: Dealing with Grief, Guilt and Regret, written by Esther Bealle (2024)
    • This book provides a genuine understanding of the unique grief of losing an adult sibling. Her personal experience, combined with professional expertise, creates an authentic and helpful resource. The book addresses complex emotions like guilt and regret while offering practical coping strategies. Real stories from others facing similar losses provide comfort and connection.
  • No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving the Suicide Of A Loved One, written by Carla Fine (2001)
    • Carla Fine brings suicide survival from the darkness into light, speaking frankly about the overwhelming feelings of confusion, guilt, shame, and anger that are common of survivors. With raw honesty, she draws on her own experiences after the suicide of her husband, and conversations with survivors, as well as counselors and mental health professionals.
  • Touched by Suicide: Hope and Healing After Loss, written by Michael F. Myers and Carla Fine (2006)
    • The suicide of a loved one sends survivors on a lifelong search for answers, both to the practical questions and the deepest question of Why? Michael Myers, MD, a leading psychiatrist, and Carla Fine, author of the acclaimed No Time to Say Goodbye, combine their perspectives as a physician and a survivor to offer compassionate and practical advice to anyone affected by suicide.
  • Welcome to the Grief Club, written by Janine Kwoh (2021)
    • This book is an illustrated guide to navigating loss that combines empathy, honesty, and gentle humor. The book reassures readers that there is no “right” way to grieve and that all experiences of loss are worthy of compassion.
  • Grief is Love, written by Marisa Renee Lee (2022)
    • A compassionate and insightful exploration of how grief reshapes, rather than ends, our relationships with those we’ve lost. Drawing from her own experiences after the death of her mother, Lee challenges the idea that grief is something to “get over,” instead framing it as a lifelong expression of love.
  • Renegade Grief: A Guide to the Wild Ride of Life After Loss, written by Carla Fernandez
    • The author reimagines how we face loss, encouraging us to lean into grief with creativity, community, and intention. Drawing from her own experience and her work with The Dinner Party – a peer support network for young adults – she offers practices like altar-making, dinner gatherings, and storytelling to transform grief into a source of connection, resilience, and meaning.
  • Grief Is The Thing With Feathers – a novel, written by Max Porter (2015)
    • A poetic novel that explores the rawness of loss through the story of a widowed father and his two young sons. In their darkest moments, they are visited by a shape-shifting, chaotic crow—part trickster, part caretaker—who helps them navigate the overwhelming pain of grief. Blending prose and poetry, myth and reality, Porter captures the disorienting, unpredictable nature of mourning while also illuminating the resilience of love and family.
  • Finding Meaning and the companion Finding Meaning Workbook, written by David Kessler
    • Finding Meaning explores grief as a journey that doesn’t end with acceptance, but can continue into a search for meaning after loss. Drawing from his personal experience and years of work with the grieving, Kessler offers compassionate insights and practical guidance for honoring loved ones, transforming pain, and discovering ways to live fully while carrying loss.
  • Continuing Bonds: New Understandings of Grief, written by Glass, Nickman & Silverman
    • The book explores how maintaining an ongoing connection with a lost loved one can be a healthy and meaningful part of the grieving process. Drawing on research and clinical insights, it offers new perspectives on coping with loss, honoring memory, and integrating grief into daily life while sustaining love and connection.
  • When Breath Becomes Air, written byPaul Kalanithi
    • A profound memoir written as Kalanithi faced terminal lung cancer at just 36 years old. A gifted neurosurgeon forced to confront his own mortality, he reflects on what gives life meaning, the pursuit of purpose, and the delicate balance between doctor and patient. With honesty and grace, he leaves behind a moving meditation on living fully, even in the face of death.
  • It’s OK That You’re Not OK, written by Megan Devine
    • A compassionate guide for those navigating the deep pain of loss. Drawing from her own experience of loss and her work as a therapist, Devine challenges the idea that grief should be quickly fixed or overcome. Instead, she offers validation, understanding, and gentle support, reminding readers that grief is a natural expression of love and that healing comes not from “getting over it,” but from learning to live alongside it.
  • Grief Day by Day: Simple Practices & Daily Guidance, written by Jan Warner & Amanda Bearse
    • Organized in short, manageable reflections, the book provides exercises, reminders, and compassionate guidance to help readers process emotions, honor their loved ones, and find small moments of peace. It’s a comforting companion for anyone seeking structure and encouragement while living through loss.
  • Wave, written by Sonali Deraniyagala
    • The author has written a powerful memoir about losing her entire family—her parents, husband, and two young sons—in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. She recounts the unimaginable devastation of that day and the painful years that followed, capturing the depths of grief, anger, and memory, while also tracing her gradual steps toward survival and carrying love forward.
  • Surviving the Death of a Sibling, written by T.J. Wray
    • Drawing on personal stories and practical advice, the book explores the unique grief that comes with losing a sibling, from feelings of guilt and anger to navigating changes in family dynamics. Wray offers support, understanding, and strategies for finding meaning and healing while honoring the memory of a sibling.
  • Looking for Alaska – a novel, written by John Green (2006)
    • A coming-of-age novel that follows Miles “Pudge” Halter as he leaves home for boarding school in search of a deeper, more meaningful life. There, he meets the enigmatic and unpredictable Alaska Young, whose presence changes him and his friends forever. When tragedy strikes, Miles is forced to confront questions of grief, love, and the search for meaning in the face of loss.

Movies

  • Coco
    • Disney and Pixar’s Coco is very much about grief and remembrance. While it’s told through vibrant music, family traditions, and the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos, at its heart the film explores how we carry the memory of loved ones who have died. It touches on themes of loss, the pain of being forgotten, and the healing power of remembering and honoring those who came before us.
  • Soul
    • Disney and Pixar’s Soul isn’t directly about grief in the way Coco is, but it does touch on related themes of mortality and meaning. The film follows Joe Gardner, a musician who suddenly finds himself between life and death, and it explores questions about purpose, fulfillment, and what makes life worth living. While it’s less about grieving a specific loss, Soul invites reflection on life’s fragility, the inevitability of death, and how embracing everyday moments can bring a sense of peace — themes that often surface in the grieving process.