Megan Devine

Megan M Devine is an American psychotherapist, writer, and speaker. A grief advocate and communication expert, Devine is best known for her 2017 book, It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture that Doesn't Understand (Sounds True, 2017), and for her work advancing an approach to grief support which excludes the use of Platitudes, the Kübler-Ross model (5 stages theory), and treating grief as a pathology.

Devine is the founder of Refuge in Grief, a grief support resource and online community which serves both grieving people and those looking to better support grieving people via free online resources, paid creative courses, and professional training. Refuge in Grief's grief education and outreach works to normalize the many physical, mental, and emotional effects of grief, and correct the notion that grief is a pathology and occurs in orderly stages.

Devine's quotes, "Some things cannot be fixed. They can only be carried." and "Acknowledgement can be the best medicine we have. It makes things better, even when they cannot be made right." defines her model of grief advocacy work based on her professional and personal observations on supporting grievers and their advocates with an emphasis on unexpected, out-of-order, traumatic, and accidental death, including death by suicide, Violent crime, Natural disaster, pregnancy loss, and baby loss.

Early life and education

Devine was born in Bangor, Maine. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1997 from Goddard College, a Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts also from Goddard College in 1999, and in 2003 earned a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Antioch University New England.

Devine had been a clinical mental health therapist for over 15 years, prior to the drowning death of her partner in 2009. Prior to her private Psychotherapy practice, Devine worked as a sexual violence awareness educator, taught writing in a day shelter for at-risk youth and was a clinical ghostwriter for an educational publishing house.

Books

•Print

It's OK That You're Not OK: Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture that Doesn't Understand (Sounds True, 2017), is a non-fiction book explaining how traditional grief support fails to help those in grief, how the culture perceives grief and loss and what needs to change, how honoring, validating, and bearing witness to grievers' experiences is the most effective way to help, creating compassionate companionship, and providing tools for persons in grief and for those who support grieving people.

•Audio

The Grief Experiment (2013), a 90-minute audio guidebook of practical exercises for persons in early grief.

Animations

How Do You Help a Grieving Friend? (2018), this 4-minute animated video explains what does and doesn't work when supporting grieving people, featured on Laughing Squid and BuzzFeed's Facebook presence, Goodful, where it has received over 23 million views. On YouTube the animation has received over 355,000 views.

As contributor

Mindfulness and Bereavement (2013)
Holidays and Bereavement: A different way to cope (2013)
How to Help Someone in Pain (2014)
The Half Life of Love (2015)
The Converse-Station: Megan Devine Interviews Author Jessica Handler (2015)
How to Help a Grieving Friend (2017)
How to take care of yourself & others during tragedies (2017)
How to help a grieving friend at the holidays: an illustrated guide (2017)
Stay Strong, and Other Useless Drivel We Tell the Grieving (2018)
Her Partner Drowned at 39 (2018)
Overwhelmed By World News? There's A Spiritual Practice For That (2018)
The Unexpected Practice That Helped Me Cope With Grief — When Nothing Else Could (2018)

Speaking engagements

2015 World Domination Summit, Newmark Theater, Portland, OR