Grief and mourning are taboo subjects in our society, so how do you interact with the world when yours has been ripped apart by loss? Until recently, people’s struggles with mental health and parenting were also hidden topics. Connie Easterbrook was raised in a Dutch household, where sterkte (meaning ’strength’) was the way to resolve life’s problems, but life didn’t bless her with an easy path. Connie was a sensitive and anxious child who, despite having four children, didn’t find parenting easy. Her eldest daughter, Simone, died in a car accident when she was twenty-one, yet this was the second tragedy Connie had faced, because her youngest brother had died by suicide when he was twenty-seven.
My Daughter, Myself is Connie’s journey towards understanding the complex mother-daughter relationship she had with Simone, and her complicated experience of grief. As Connie studied psychology and counselling, her parenting struggles, her losses and her battles with depression became clearer. My Daughter, Myself exposes the flaws of our keep-calm-and-carry-on culture while shining a light on personal insight and growth.
Innehållsförteckning
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword
Prologue
Introduction
Chapter 1: Her Inner Light
Chapter 2: Simone
Chapter 3: Connie’s Story
Chapter 4: Simone and Me
Chapter 5: Marriage and Children
Chapter 6: And Then There Were More
Chapter 7: Losing Simone
Chapter 8: Grieving Simone
Chapter 9: Early Experiences of Grief
Chapter 10: The Challenges of Grief
Chapter 11: Life is What Happens …
Chapter 12: Life After the Loss of My Brother
Chapter 13: Losing Mum
Chapter 14: Insights About Grief
Chapter 15: Ongoing Struggles with Grief
Chapter 16: ’Getting Over It’
Chapter 17: What I Have Learnt About Mental Health
About ADHD
About anger
About anxiety
About depression
About the inner critic
About parenting
The importance of self-care
Chapter 18: Drawing the Threads Together
Appendix A: Practical Suggestions
Appendix B: Mental Health First Aid Skills and Resources
Acknowledgements
Recommended Reading List
References
Om författaren
Connie Easterbrook is a professional counsellor. She holds a Bachelor of Social Science from Southern Cross University, a Graduate Certificate in Emotionally Focused Therapy and a Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training. Over the past eighteen years, Connie has held positions at Lifeline, Anglicare, Relationships Australia and Catholic Care. She has also provided training to TAFE, St Mark’s National Theological Centre, community groups and churches. Given Connie’s personal experiences, she chose to work in the grief and loss field for many years, assisting individuals and agencies. She provided training, facilitated support groups, and spoke publicly about both suicide postvention, and grief and loss. ’My Daughter, Myself’ is Connie’s first book, written in response to her grief following the tragic death of her daughter, Simone, at the age of twenty-one. In 2016, Connie’s short story ’Big Grief’ was published in the Hunter Writers Centre publication, ’Grieve’. Connie currently runs a small private practice; she also works as a counsellor and relationship educator for Relationships Australia. She lives in the Sutherland Shire with her husband, Tony, her youngest son, Matthew, and their naughty puppy, Bailey.
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