This Emotional Wellbeing Resource List is for grief, resilience, and emotional support.

“Whether you’re preparing, grieving, or supporting someone else, this resource hub offers practical tools, emotional support, spiritual insight, and trustworthy information to help navigate death and dying with greater understanding and care.”

  • Based on her years as a palliative care nurse, Bronnie Ware shares the profound regrets expressed by people in their final days. This touching book invites reflection on how we live our lives, urging us to prioritize love, authenticity, and connection before it’s too late.

  • In this deeply compassionate guide, Joanne Cacciatore explores the complexities of grief and loss, offering insights on how to bear the emotional weight of sorrow. Combining personal stories with professional wisdom, she emphasizes the importance of presence, self-compassion, and support in healing from devastating loss.

  • Megan Devine offers a compassionate approach to grief, challenging the common “move on” mentality and instead encouraging people to embrace their sorrow. Through this book, she validates the experience of grief, providing a gentle roadmap for healing that prioritizes feeling and honouring emotions.

  • A deeply moving memoir by neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi, who reflects on his own terminal cancer diagnosis. Blending his medical expertise with personal insight, Kalanithi examines the intersection of life and death, exploring what it means to live with purpose, dignity, and meaning in the face of mortality.

  • In this classic memoir, Mitch Albom recounts his moving conversations with his former college professor, Morrie Schwartz, who is dying of ALS. Through their weekly meetings, Morrie imparts timeless wisdom about love, work, family, and death, offering readers profound lessons on living a fulfilling life.

Books:

Grief & Emotional Wellbeing Apps:

  • An app for sleep, stress relief, and mindfulness, offering guided meditation, sleep stories, and breathing exercises to help users relax and find inner peace.

    www.calm.com

  • Focused on emotional resilience, Headspace offers guided meditations, mindfulness exercises, and breathing techniques to reduce stress and improve mental well-being.

    www.headspace.com

  • A supportive app for processing grief and heartbreak, featuring guided exercises, journaling prompts, and emotional support tailored to healing after loss.

    app.mend.org.au

  • A supportive app designed to help children and families cope with grief and loss, offering interactive tools like emotional check-ins, journaling, and creative exercises to process difficult emotions in a safe, engaging way.

    www.kidshelpline.com.au/tools/apps/smiles-tears

  • A gamified app designed for children and adolescents dealing with grief, helping them process emotions through interactive stories, activities, and support tools.

    www.apartofme.org

  • A spiritual daybook that invites readers to embrace aliveness, reclaim freedom, and savour life’s beauty. Through poetic prose and profound insights, Nepo encourages readers to stay vital and in love with life, despite its challenges. Each entry, accompanied by an exercise, offers a transformative experience, awakening the soul and inspiring deeper reflection.

  • A deeply personal exploration of grief and loss, written after the sudden death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, and her daughter's critical illness. In this raw and poignant memoir, Didion examines the fragility of life, memory, and sanity, attempting to make sense of the whirlwind of events that shattered her world. The book offers an intimate, honest portrayal of love, loss, and the emotional complexities of life’s most difficult moments.

  • Offering a path to inner freedom through embracing ourselves with all our pain, fear, and imperfections. In this transformative work, Brach combines personal stories, Buddhist teachings, and practical guidance to help readers overcome self-judgment and live more compassionately. With new meditations and a bonus chapter, the book invites readers to break free from anxiety and cultivate peace within themselves.

Other Notable Resources:

  • Brené Brown explores the importance of vulnerability, shame, and empathy in human connections. Her talk is a powerful reminder of how embracing vulnerability builds resilience and emotional strength, especially in times of difficulty.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0

  • Buddhist Roshi Joan Halifax works with people at the last stage of life (in hospice and on death row). She shares what she's learned about compassion in the face of death and dying, and a deep insight into the nature of empathy.

    https://www.ted.com/talks/joan_halifax_compassion_and_the_true_meaning_of_empathy

  • Alyssa Monks is a renowned artist known for her intimate paintings that capture vulnerability and human connection. With an MFA from the New York Academy of Art, her work has been exhibited worldwide, including at the Kunst Museum in Germany. Monks also teaches figurative art at universities across the U.S.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRrNST9OAcA

  • Pain and grief can foster personal growth and healing. She challenges the denial of death, emphasizing that grief, though painful, is transformative and necessary for adaptation. In her TEDx talk, she shares how allowing ourselves to grieve leads to lasting change and love that endures beyond loss.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4PNNlGWq_Q

  • In her TEDx talk, Jessie, executive officer of The GroundSwell Project, discusses the importance of building community around death and grief. She emphasizes how helping others through dying and loss can be one of the most meaningful experiences of our lives, and advocates for a death-literate society where communities are equipped to respond with care and understanding.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP2TT3Lnbrc

Talks & Media:

Support Services (Australia-focused):