This website is intended to offer meaningful information to anyone who is now in counseling or seeking to find a counselor.

Coming to realize that a loved one's illness is long term or maybe even terminal has been described as a “dawning acceptance.”

Family goals will change with the acceptance of terminal illness. Previously held dreams of cure will cede to more limited objectives: the desire for quality of life, to maximize comfort, and to reach certain milestones, birthdays, or anniversaries.

You and your loved one may have pursued promising treatments and perhaps enjoyed a respite from encroaching illness. At some point, however, the illness may become terminal, and gradually the end draws closer. Once further treatments are unlikely to be successful, there is a great deal you can do to muster support for both of you.

Often, people feel anticipatory grief when they know someone they care about is seriously ill. Anticipatory grief means grappling with and grieving a loss before it completely unfolds.

• sorrow

• anxiety

• anger

• acceptance

• depression

• denial

Talking about death is often difficult. Speaking about death may seem like a form of abandonment because it suggests you’ve given up on the lingering promise of a cure. Your own anxiety, sadness, and discomfort may make the words to express these feelings difficult to form. An experienced counselor like Dr. Ruth, who is specially trained in helping those going through the experience of critical illness, will guide you through these difficult times.

When it is time for you reach out to someone during your time of loss, let Dr. Ruth Schriebman guide you through your time of mourning.