Resources for Sudden or Unexpected Loss

The following resource guide has been developed to help you find additional information and support as you navigate one of the most disorienting and painful experiences a person can face. This guide includes books, websites, and podcasts that you may find helpful as you are learning to live with grief in general and with a loss that came without warning or goodbye.

The resources included in this guide are provided for informational purposes only and are intended to support your own independent research. They are not endorsed or affiliated with drjenniferlevin.com. Please use your own judgment when exploring any resource listed here.

General Grief

Books

Blair, P. D., & McCabe Hansen, B. (2023). The long grief journey: How long-term unresolved grief can affect your mental health and what to do about it. Sourcebooks.

Cacciatore, J. (2017). Bearing the unbearable: Love, loss, and the heartbreaking path of grief. Wisdom Publications.

Devine, M. (2017). It’s OK that you’re not OK: Meeting grief and loss in a culture that doesn’t understand. Sounds True.

Kessler, D. (2020). Finding meaning: The sixth stage of grief. Scribner.

Kübler-Ross, E., & Kessler, D. (2005). On grief and grieving: Finding the meaning of grief through the five stages of loss. Scribner.

O’Connor, M.-F. (2023). The grieving brain: The surprising science of how we learn from love and loss. HarperOne.

Weller, F. (2015). The wild edge of sorrow: Rituals of renewal and the sacred work of grief. North Atlantic Books.

Websites

Dr. Jennifer Levin: www.drjenniferlevin.com

What’s Your Grief: www.whatsyourgrief.com

Modern Loss: www.modernloss.com

The Dougy Center: www.dougy.org

Refuge in Grief: www.refugeingrief.com

Podcasts

All There Is with Anderson Cooper
The Hereafter with Megan Devine
Grief Out Loud
The Grief Sofa
Grief Unfiltered

Sudden or Unexpected Loss

Books

Baugher, B., & Jordan, J. R. (2025). After suicide loss: Coping with your grief. Caring People Press.

Bucholz, J. (2019). Homicide survivors: Misunderstood grievers. Routledge.

Canty, J. (2023). What now? Navigating the aftermath of homicide & suicide. Jan Canty, PhD, LLC.

Fine, C. (1999). No time to say goodbye: Surviving the suicide of a loved one. Harmony.

Joiner, T. (2007). Why people die by suicide (2nd ed.). Harvard University Press.

Levin, J. (2025). The traumatic loss workbook: Powerful skills for navigating the grief caused by a sudden or unexpected death. New Harbinger Publications.

Levine, P. (2005). Healing trauma: A pioneering program for restoring the wisdom of your body. Sounds True.

Levine, P. (1997). Waking the tiger: Healing trauma. North Atlantic Books.

Lukas, C., & Seiden, H. M. (2007). Silent grief: Living in the wake of suicide (Rev. ed.). Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Neimeyer, R. (2025). Living beyond loss: Questions and answers about grief and bereavement. Routledge.

Noel, B., & Blair, P. D. (2008). I wasn’t ready to say goodbye: Surviving, coping, and healing after the sudden death of a loved one (2nd ed.). Sourcebooks.

Rando, T. A. (1991). How to go on living when someone you love dies. Bantam Books.

Roe, G. (2019). Aftermath. Picking up the pieces after a suicide. Independent.

Roe, G. (2017). Shattered by grief: Surviving the loss of a child. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1995). Trauma and transformation: Growing in the aftermath of suffering. SAGE Publications.

van der Kolk, B. A. (2015). The body keeps score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. Penguin Books.

Wolfelt, A. D. (2020). Understanding your grief after a drug-overdose death. Companion Press.

Wolfelt, A. D. (2021). Grief after Homicide. Surviving, Mourning, Reconciling. Companion Press.

Websites

Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors: www.allianceofhope.org

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention: www.afsp.org

Center for Loss & Life Transition: www.centerforloss.com

MADD Victim Services: www.madd.org

Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights: www.mvfhr.org

National Alliance for Children’s Grief: www.nacg.org

National Center for Victims of Crime: www.victimsofcrime.org

TAPS: Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors: www.taps.org

The Compassionate Friends: www.compassionalfriends.org

Podcasts

Anticipatory Grief

Bereaved But Still Me

Grief Works

Open to Hope

Untethered: Healing the Pain from a Sudden Loss

If you are in crisis, please call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.

For more information about living with loss please visit Dr. Jennifer Levin at drjenniferlevin.com.