Christina Rasmussen

American psychologist

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Christina Rasmussen

Born|  (1972-04-21) April 21, 1972 (age 53)
Occupation| Founder, author, and CEO of Second Firsts
Alma mater| University of Durham
Northeastern University
Notable work| Second Firsts: Live, Laugh, and Love Again

Christina Rasmussen is a Greek–American crisis intervention counselor and author. She is best known for writing Second Firsts, a 2013 book introducing a new model of grief based on the science of neuroplasticity, as well as creating a grief counseling organization of the same name.

## Background

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In September 1998, Rasmussen delivered her master's thesis on the stages of grief at the University of Durham in England.[1]

In 2003, Rasmussen's husband of 10 years, Bjarne Rasmussen, was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.[2] On July 21, 2006, he died in the intensive care unit of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at the age of thirty-five.[2]

While grieving, Rasmussen continued working to support her two children.[2] She obtained a graduate certificate in human resource management from Northeastern University, and joined the human resource department at Parexel, a multinational life sciences consulting firm.[3]

In September 2010, she started writing her weekly letter on her site Second Firsts which began her journey as a writer.

On November 4, 2013, her first book Second Firsts[4] was published by Hay House.[5]

The Life Reentry Institute[6] was born in 2017 bringing forth a professional curriculum to allow for professionals to bring Life Reentry into their work.

In December 2018 Rasmussen published her first book with HarperOne, Where Did You Go? It received critical reviews from religious establishments such as the National Catholic Reporter.[7]

## Second Firsts

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Main article: Second Firsts

In April 2010, Rasmussen created the Life Reentry Model, a model of grieving based on her professional, academic, and personal observations of the bereavement process.[8] This model is the foundation of her 2013 book, Second Firsts, as well as her grief counseling organization of the same name.[3]

Rasmussen's model of grief operates on the assumption of psychological resilience, echoing the theories introduced by George Bonanno, a professor of clinical psychology at the Teachers College of Columbia University. Her theories conflict with popularized concepts of grief stemming from the 1917 and 1969 publications of Mourning and Melancholia and On Death and Dying by Sigmund Freud and Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, respectively.[9][10] The defining characteristic of the model proposed by Second Firsts is the view of loss as a catalyst for change and self-growth.[11]

## Reception and influence

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For her work on Second Firsts, Rasmussen has been featured on the blog of the White House, as well as HelloGiggles, a lifestyle website created by actress Zooey Deschanel.[12][13]

## References

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1. ^ "DailyOM – Second Firsts: Live, Laugh, and Love Again". DailyOM. 2013.
2. ^ a b c Spegman, Abby (January 8, 2013). "Just Like Starting Over". Wicked Local.
3. ^ a b Rymer, Brooke (March 2016). "Raising the Bar of Life After Loss". Experience Life.
4. ^ "Second Firsts", Goodreads, September 30, 2019, retrieved January 29, 2021
5. ^ "Second Firsts". Hay House. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
6. ^ "Christina Rasmussen". The Life Reentry Institute. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
7. ^ "Author invites us to irreligious realm". National Catholic Reporter. April 10, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
8. ^ Quantock, Grace (January 21, 2014). "Trailblazer Interview: Christina Rasmussen & Falling Away Then Finding a Way". GraceQuantock.com (Interview).
9. ^ Broom, Sarah M. (August 30, 2004). "Milestones". Time. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009.
10. ^ Clewell, Tammy (March 2004). "Mourning Beyond Melancholia: Freud's Psychoanalysis of Loss" (PDF). Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association. 52 (1): 43–67\. doi:10.1177/00030651040520010601. PMID 15089015. S2CID 3015896. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 7, 2012.
11. ^ Rasmussen, Christina (November 4, 2013). Second Firsts: Live, Laugh, and Love Again. Hay House.
12. ^ Escobar, Michelle (September 13, 2012). "WWTDG: Christina Rasmussen". Hello Giggles. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012.`{{cite news}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
13. ^ Cho, Ronnie (December 7, 2012). "WWTDG: When All Love Is Not Lost". whitehouse.gov – via National Archives.

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