On a Saturday morning, numb and overwhelmed, I stared at the newspaper, jam-packed with dismal news, haunting images of makeshift field hospitals in Central Park, and numbers splashed across the headlines of the climbing death toll. Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com As a mental health therapist and author of a book on sibling loss, I … Continue reading Redefining Intimacy Amid COVID-19
Author: susanecasey.com
Susan E. Casey, MSW, MFA, is an author, a licensed mental health clinician, a certified bereavement group facilitator, and a certified life coach. Throughout the past 25 years, Susan has worked in hospice, in-patient, and home-based settings with teens and adults, and taught numerous courses to executive leaders and clinicians.
Currently, Susan works for a measurement-based care organization, providing clinical coaching to therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists countrywide to improve mental health outcomes for youth and adults.
Susan’s blog on her website, susanecasey.com, chronicles her grieving process following the death of her younger brother. Her fiction has won numerous awards, including first place in the PEN/Nob Hill Literary Contest and Green Writer’s National Literary Contest. Rock On: Mining for Joy in the Deep River of Grief is her first work of nonfiction published on February 14, 2020 by Library Tales Publishing. Both Susan’s professional and creative work have been guided by her deep belief that every individual has purpose and inherent strengths and deserves the opportunity to reach their own unique potential. Susan lives in Maine with her husband Steve and golden retriever Indy.
A Tribute to Mom
On the year anniversay of my mother's death, I'd like to share my tribute to her. I love and miss you every day, Mom. Dear Mom, There are people in this world who leave deep boot prints on the heart. The kind you long to fill because the hurt curls up in those holes, … Continue reading A Tribute to Mom
Rock On!
I know…I know…I’ve not posted in a long time. As you all know if you follow this blog, I’ve been writing Rock On: Mining for Joy in the Deep River of Sibling Grief. Many or probably all of you know, the book is being released on the 6th anniversary of Rocky’s death—Friday, February 14, 2020 … Continue reading Rock On!
We are not meant to live life like salmon, swimming against the current
Good afternoon, my friends! It's been 8 months since my last post. Time truly does seem to have a set of wings. I've been working on my book proposal and it's been quite a process so thank you for not giving up on me. Kelly Murphy, whom I met in 2012 at the Passion Test Certification … Continue reading We are not meant to live life like salmon, swimming against the current
Mining for Joy
Tick tock. Tick tock. The hands on the clock twitch, reminding me of time, passing time, fleeting time. It’s been five months since my last post. It wasn’t a conscious choice. The days stretched into weeks, weeks into months. So I thought I’d let my readers know what has reeled me in and sucked me under. … Continue reading Mining for Joy
The Language of Water
At the end of August, as the slight chill of Autumn drifts through open windows in the early morning, we pack up dogs, food, books that have waited patiently to be read, journals and pens, and head North to Moosehead Lake. On the first day I arrived, I breathed in the crisp air, tipped my … Continue reading The Language of Water
Fly Free, Fly Often
The tattoo artist lined up ten miniature plastic cups filled with SkinCandy© ink. The colors so vibrant, exquisite, I was tempted to dip my pinky finger into the Candy Apple green, lick it off, and hold it on my tongue. Next I’d try Red Berry Cherry, Raspberry Jam, Candy Corn yellow, Tangerine, and Tastywaves. I … Continue reading Fly Free, Fly Often
A Valentine Letter
Dear Rocky, my brother, my friend, Today is Valentine’s Day. For some, this holiday means sinking teeth into truffles and chocolate-covered strawberries, inhaling the scent of red roses, and popping corks on fine champagne. For others, it’s an arrow through the heart that bleeds and aches from past hurts under a cloud of “aloneness.” … Continue reading A Valentine Letter
What No One Ever Told Me
Last Valentine’s—that rose-scented, chocolate-infused day, God reached a hand down, scooped my brother’s soul into his Godly palm without asking if we were ready, if Rocky was ready, to transition from this world into the next. He was plucked from our lives without any warning at all, leaving a jagged hole in our wholeness, sending … Continue reading What No One Ever Told Me
Beauty in the Pain
One sleepless night, I tiptoed down the stairs, slipped outside and stared up at the low-hanging moon, so close to me it looked as if it had been pinned against the black canvas with a thumbtack. I reached out a hand to snatch if from the sky, tuck it inside my heart, feel its warm … Continue reading Beauty in the Pain
