Megan Devine, a former Empowering Parents coach, is a psychotherapist, writer, grief advocate, and communication expert dedicated to helping people through some of the most devastating times of their lives.
She is the author of It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief & Loss in a Culture that Doesn’t Understand.
Ms. Devine has authored more than thirty articles for Empowering Parents.
Megan Devine is a Pacific Northwest author, speaker, and grief consultant, she’s the founder of Refuge In Grief, a hub of grief education and outreach, where she leads people through some of the most devastating times of their lives. Together with her team, she facilitates a growing catalog of courses, events, and trainings to help grieving people, and those who wish to support them, learn the skills they need to carry pain that cannot be fixed.
Ms. Devine had been a clinical mental health therapist for over 15 years. Prior to her private psychotherapy practice, Devine worked as a sexual violence awareness educator and taught writing in a day shelter for at-risk youth.
Ms. Devine received her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Antioch University New England and her Master of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Goddard College.
“We all love our kids. We love them through all the bad choices, wrong turns, disappointments, and struggles. And we try to keep finding the good, even inside all the bad. We want the best life for them, the best life they can build. And sometimes, despite all our love, they choose a different path. In our roles as teachers and guides, we have power, but we do not have complete control. Sometimes, there is deep grief in accepting that.”
Ms. Devine has been featured widely in the media, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Well & Good, National Public Radio, Spirituality & Health, Bustle Magazine, Harvard Business Review, and Modern Loss. She’s a sought after expert when grief erupts in the public sphere.
Her “how to help a grieving friend” animation has been viewed more than 20 million times by viewers all around the world.
Watch Megan’s segment on AM Northwest, where she and host Helen Raptis discuss how to help grieving friends and family members.
Understanding Grief: Megan Devine and the Grief Revolution in Jane Brody’s Wellness column at the New York Times.
Megan Devine in the Washington Post.
Rethinking Our Relationship with Grief: Interview Call-In Show with Wisconsin Public Radio.
What to Do When a Loved One is Seriously Depressed: On Preventing Suicide, with Megan Devine in the New York Times.
A full list of Ms. Devine’s media mentions can be found on the Refuge in Grief press and media page.
The alarm goes off and the morning battle begins: you knock on your child’s bedroom door to wake him, but you have to go back time and again to make sure he’s actually up, your voice rising with each “wake-up call.” As the minutes tick by and he still hasn’t gotten out of bed, you... Read more »
If you’re having trouble giving effective consequences to your teen, know that you are not alone. Many parents tell me that nothing seems to work and that coming up with the right thing for their child can seem like an impossible task. If you’re the parent of an adolescent, you may have grounded your child, taken... Read more »
Here at Empowering Parents, we've received many messages from parents sharing sadness and disappointment over the way their kids have turned out. It's a subject we don't talk about very often, but it's one that really deserves some attention. In The Total Transformation Program, James Lehman talks about parenting the child you have rather than the... Read more »
Child behavior problems can quickly feed into a perception of yourself as having a dysfunctional family. If you see yourself and your family that way—or if you’ve been labeled as one of those dysfunctional families—you’re not alone. Many parents struggle with the idea that their family doesn’t measure up to their own hopes. Or to... Read more »
A few months ago, we asked Empowering Parents readers to share how they respond when their child acts out. We asked this question because we want to help you be a more effective parent with real life, day-to-day struggles. There were three parenting styles that readers consistently told us they were using and weren’t working... Read more »
You put in the work: you raised your child, got them through school, and prepared them as best you could for living on their own as an adult. You were looking forward to having the house to yourselves again—finally, a little peace and quiet. For many parents, the peace of a child-free home is short-lived, if... Read more »
The morning routine is tough on a lot of families. If you're struggling to get your kids off to school each day, you are not alone. At Empowering Parents, we hear this every day from parents just like you. Morning arguments, battles of will, and power struggles happen for families every day. The good news is... Read more »
On the Empowering Parents Facebook page we asked parents to share the one day-to-day thing they find most frustrating about their kids. The overwhelming answer? “I have to tell my kid five times to do the simplest thing! Every single day, it’s a battle. I want to tell him once and have him march off... Read more »
Many parents are unsure whether they should leave their older kids home alone. For parents who work, this is particularly an issue during the summer. But it also applies during school vacations and during the after-school hours. So, how do you know if your child is responsible enough to be left home alone? And, if you... Read more »
You know the drill: you’re trying to talk to your teen about curfew. Or dinner. Or absolutely anything—and they pretend they can’t hear you. They start an argument with you, or give you an eye roll and a "Whatever." Or they turn up their music. They won’t lift their eyes from their screens. They scoff... Read more »