Christina Rasmussen


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

In September 1998, Rasmussen delivered her Master's thesis on the stages of grief at the University of Durham in England.
In 2003, Rasmussen's husband of 10 years, Bjarne Rasmussen, was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. On July 21, 2006, he died in the intensive care unit of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at the age of thirty-five.
While grieving, Rasmussen continued working to support her two children. 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.

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. This model is the foundation of her 2013 book, Second Firsts, as well as her grief counseling organization of the same name.
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. The defining characteristic of the model proposed by Second Firsts is the view of loss as a catalyst for change and self-growth.

Reception and Influence

In December 2012, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington invited Rasmussen to write an article for the website. The article, titled 7 Unexpected Steps to Starting Over During the Holidays, appeared on the "Most Popular" list within 24 hours of its publication.
For her work on Second Firsts, Rasmussen has been featured on the blog of The White House, as well as Hello Giggles, a lifestyle website created by actress Zooey Deschanel.