GriefWork for Teens
Ester R. A. Leutenberg has worked in the mental health field for many years as a publisher, author and advocate for those suffering from loss. She personally experienced a devastating loss when her son Mitchell, after struggling with a mental illness for eight years, died by suicide in 1986. Soon after, as a way of both healing and helping others, Ester co-founded Wellness Reproductions & Publishing with her daughter Kathy Khalsa and began developing therapeutic products that help facilitators help their clients. Ester is the co-author of the SEALS series for teen-agers, Life Management Skills series for adults and Meaningful Life Skills for older adults, as well as a variety of other therapeutic card games, board games and posters. Ester has co-written Creating a Healthy Balanced Life, the Mental Health & Life Skills Workbook Series, the Teen Mental Health & Life Skills Workbook Series, the Coping Workbook Series, Motivation, GriefWork ~ Healing from Loss, book, card and poster, The GriefWork Companion, and this book, GriefWork for Teens, all published by Whole Person Associates. Fran Zamore, msw, ACSW, is a clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, Reiki Master and student of energy healing. She has extensive experience working with individuals, couples and groups as well as leading workshops. Her private practice focuses on life transitions, personal and spiritual growth, and loss, grief and healing. She creatively integrates physical, mental, spiritual and emotional awareness in her work. As with most people, Fran s life experience informs her work. The depth of her knowledge and understanding has been enhanced from her own healing journey after the eight-year illness and subsequent death of her husband in 2005. Synthesizing her own life experiences with her professional knowledge coupled with insights from participants in the many bereavement groups that she has facilitated and individuals she has counseled, led Fran to co-author GriefWork ~ Healing from Loss, The GriefWork Companion ~ Activities for Healing and GriefWork for Teens with Ester Leutenberg. Fran continues to focus her professional energy toward helping people navigate the journey from loss to a New Normal through her work in hospice and her private practice.