Harriet Sarnoff Schiff

Renowned expert on the grieving process as well as author of How Did I Become I Parents' Parent?

Photo of Harriet Sarnoff Schiff

Biography

Harriet Sarnoff Schiff, author of The Bereaved Parent, How Did I Become My Parents’ Parent?, Living Through Mourning, and The Support Group Manual: A Session-By-Session Guide, is a renowned expert on the grieving process. She has appeared on several high-profile television programs, including Oprah, ...

Read more

Harriet Sarnoff Schiff, author of The Bereaved Parent, How Did I Become My Parents’ Parent?, Living Through Mourning, and The Support Group Manual: A Session-By-Session Guide, is a renowned expert on the grieving process. She has appeared on several high-profile television programs, including Oprah, Good Morning America, and Today, and has been featured on radio shows across the country.

Schiff has lectured across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Her warmth, humor, and kindness embody her speeches, while her emphasis on facing the truth and on what you can do to help yourself and your family in manageable steps lends the audience her own kind of strength.

 
Speaking Topics
  • How Did I Become my Parents’ Parent?
    This issue is at the forefront of so many baby boomers’ lives that just the question itself elicits a knowing nod. Common questions addressed in this lecture include “How do I tell my dad that he should no longer drive?”; “How do I help my newly widowed mother be more independent without appearing indifferent to her difficulties?”; “How do I tell my mother it’s time for her to move into an assisted living facility?”; “How can I help when I live out of town?”; and “How can I get a life of my own when I am bogged down with caring for my father’s needs?” Schiff presents reason, laughter, and an understanding that solutions exist which may ease the issues confronting those caring for aging parents.
  • The Bereaved Parent and Living Through Mourning
    “How many children do you have?” may be life’s toughest question to a bereaved parent. And life’s toughest reality to a bereaved parent is that, even as a couple, mother and father, you will each grieve alone. “My child died in Iraq. How I can face the growing discontent that we don’t belong there, and did my child really die in vain? How can I help myself, his child, and his wife, at the same time? I feel paralyzed, but I know they need me.” “How can I keep this marriage together? How will we survive as a couple, when I have nothing to give anyone?” “I can’t manage my surviving children.” “My child was murdered. How do I deal with the hate inside me?” These and countless other issues plague the already tormented parents of a deceased child. Schiff shows how it is possible for your heart to finally be at ease after going through such turmoil.

Featured Book

Featured book's cover The Support Group Manual

A Session-By-Session Guide to: Finding and Joining a Group, Getting the Most Out of Each Meeting, and Becoming a Facilitator Buy Books now!