Ideas
You are doing incredible work! Here are some ideas by other professionals in related fields we think might be helpful to you.
Mentalization | Peter Fonagy
Mentalization, as defined by Peter Fonagy, is the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others by imagining their inner experiences. This essential human capacity supports empathy and emotional regulation, especially in therapy for conditions like borderline personality disorder. This skill begins in early caregiver relationships that reflect and name emotional states and continues throughout human development. Learn more about mentalization and the importance of reflective functioning. Click here to read.
Living Into Our Values | Brene Brown
Living into our values means that we do more than profess our values, we practice them. We walk our talk—we are clear about what we believe and hold important, and we take care that our intentions, words, thoughts, and behaviors align with those beliefs. Click here to download.
Ambiguous Loss and the “Myth of Closure” | Pauline Boss
Pauline Boss is professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of “Loss, Trauma, and Resilience: Therapeutic Work with Ambiguous Loss,” “Loving Someone Who Has Dementia,” and “Ambiguous Loss.” She has also pioneered a global online course with the University of Minnesota called “Ambiguous Loss: Its Meaning and Application.” Click here to listen.
All Along You Were Blooming | Morgan Harper Nichols
This is a wonderful book of poems that we have found inspiring for our participants.
A celebration of hope. An encounter with grace. A restoration of the heart. A healing of wounds. An anthem of freedom. This illustrated collection of poetry and prose invites you to stumble into the sunlight and delight in the wild and boundless grace you've been given. Click here to review purchasing options.
Note: Bellis is not affiliated with any person or organization featured on this list of ideas.
Increase Your Self-Awareness with One Simple Fix | Tasha Eurich | TEDxMileHigh
Participants in Bellis groups can struggle with self-understanding, asking why life happened to them. Self-awareness is not just part of their journey! In fact, it’s something more than 90% of us think we have, but actually…we don’t. As facilitators, we can reflect on what we give our participants in groups. Through parallel process, our participants feel a change in their mental mindset when we shift from asking “Why me?” to “What can I do?” instead. Click here to watch this transformative 17-minute TEDx Talk from organizational psychologist Dr. Tasha Eurich.
How to Carry What Can't Be Fixed: A Journal for Grief | Megan Devine
This is a guided, illustrated journal that helps people navigate loss without clichés, timetables, or the pressure to "move on". It offers self-care exercises, prompts, and tools for honest self-expression, helping readers manage grief, find meaning, and live with loss, rather than trying to fix or get over it. Click here to review purchasing options.