In preparing this special issue of "Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying" - we choose to consider solidarity in a somewhat larger perspective than the other one usually adopted by a clear majority of social support studies. This perspective gives priority to microscopic, immediate, direct transactions between a focal individual - the one affected by the prospect of soon to come death and two classes of people: those included in the core of that person's personal network and the health care personnel treating and accompanying soon to die people, many of them already advanced into agony.

Offering both comfort to the fearful and confirmation to the curious, this title examines different levels of existence in the spirit realms.

What happens at the point of death?

Where do we go afterwards?

Does one s personality survive after death?

How are the good and the bad experiences of life accounted for?

What is the purpose of life?

These are questions everybody asks. And no one is better qualified to provide reasonable answers than Dolores Cannon. During fifteen years of detailed research, this widely experienced and well-respected American past-life regression therapist has accumulated a mass of credible information about the death experience and what lies beyond.

While reliving their dying experiences, hundreds of subjects reported the same memories. The similarity and sincerity of their recollections are too convincing to be ignored. This book is a good introduction to the death experience, to guides and guardian angels; ghosts and walk-ins. It examines different levels of existence in the spirit realms; the healing places for the damaged; the schools where you integrate lessons learned on Earth and where you discover the laws of the Universe; how you plan your next incarnation, the lessons to be learned and future karmic relationships before birth."

What is the place of discontent and unhappiness in human experience and how best can we be with it? There is something about everything that makes it not quite satisfactory. Even things we really love are spoilt by not being quite enough or by going on too long. People entering psychotherapy want to feel better - more authoritative, less anxious or depressed, more whole - and although it can help, an enormous amount of difficult and painful emotions continue to arise. Even after years and years of therapy many of us feel that there is no 'happy ever after'. Bearing this reality in mind and drawing upon both psychotherapeutic and Buddhist sources, Present with Suffering, explores bereavement and our pervasive experience of emptiness. With a foreword from Henry Shukman, the authors show how through being mindfully present, kind and accepting, we may enfold what hurts us in a more spacious and meaningful way.

This comprehensive handbook provides a solid foundation in helping skills related to successful funeral service practice.

Here is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary look at current bereavement care practices and key concerns of care providers. Covering a broad spectrum of topics, interests, and perspectives from divergent disciplines and clinical experiences, the contributing authors explore theories and constructs that can clarify and be useful in the provision of bereavement services.Bereavement Care: A New Look at Hospice and Community Based Services addresses important issues related to the delivery of bereavement care and services. Chapters focusing on clinical concerns examine ways to distinguish grief from depression and the use of Jung s theory to expand an understanding of the grief process. Others explore options for community-based group interventions and the role of the volunteer in the provision of hospice bereavement services. Chapters with a research focus highlight effective assessment tools, the applicability of Bugen s model, and the practice and problems involved in hospice bereavement services.This rich and compassionate volume will be helpful to mental health professionals, social workers, chaplains, nursing personnel, and volunteers who work with or provide services to bereaved persons and families.

Tens of thousands of women and families every year lose a baby to miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant death. The statistics are sobering--between 10% and 20% of pregnancies end in miscarriage, 1% in stillbirth, and nearly 23,000 babies die before their first birthday--but statistics alone miss the depth of the hurt. Each loss is personal and devastating. No woman is prepared to lose a baby, and caregivers are often unaware of how best to help. In Hope Beyond an Empty Cradle therapist Hallie Scott first shares her own story, as a mother whose only child, Abigail, was stillborn, and then leads readers through a healing process that makes space for heartbreak, despair, guilt, questions, and anger. Life is never the same in the wake of the loss, but a new normal is possible. The book will be a welcome resource for families who have lost a child, as well as for those seeking to care for them in their traumatic grief.

A sensitive approach to overcoming loss! Behind every tragedy and loss lies a tranquil reality just waiting to be found. Finding Peace When Your Heart Is in Pieces shows you how to use the Four Paths of Transformation--acceptance, inspiration, release, and compassion--to move past your suffering and discover inner peace. Author Paul Coleman, PsyD, guides you through every chapter with powerful exercises that help you evaluate your current emotional state and how the hardship has impacted your life. With his guidance and insight, you will learn how to transform your pain into positive thinking, find perspective through charitable acts, and hone in on what you need to do to step into a brighter future. Whether mourning the loss of a romance, health, a loved one, or coping with any of life's upheavals, Finding Peace When Your Heart Is in Pieces will help you overcome your pain and finally find peace within yourself.

Despair. Emotional isolation. Self-loathing. Immaturity. Abusive actions. These are just some of the damaging fragments that remain embedded within our personalities, behaviors, and souls when we are broken as children. The memory of the past may seem distant and clouded, but within its scars deep wounds remain that continue to inflict pain upon our adult lives--and often end up spilling into the lives of others. In Broken Children, Grown-Up Pain, Paul Hegstrom, author of Angry Men and the Women Who Love Them, shows us the scars from his broken childhood and shares practical and proven methods for facing and dealing with the pain of the past. By using scientific research, psychological studies, and biblical principles--especially those found in the Jewish model of raising children--he points us to the place of healing where we are finally free to pursue authentic relationships and build healthy emotional intimacy with others. This updated version of Broken Children, Grown-Up Pain is an excellent resource for pastors, teachers, counselors, psychologists, parents, or anyone wounded by an abusive past.

A joyful book of hope…written with touching candor and a deep wisdom."
-Harry Lipscomb, Texas A&M University College of Medicine

Recovering from loss takes more than time.

It takes choices.

Even during the darkest times there are decisions you can make and paths you can choose that lead to wholeness and hope. In this compassionate, caring guide Elizabeth Harper Neeld tells of her own poignant loss, the death of her young husband, along with the real-life experiences of over sixty other women and men. Together with the latest statistical findings on grief and recovery, their stories will help you to answer such questions as "How can I live through this pain?"... "Why can't I get over my loss?"..."Will I ever be happy again?" as it helps you discover:

• What steps rebuild beliefs, relationships, and happiness

• How to honor the past without being dominated by it

• What assistance to request from family and friends

• How to tell the difference between sadness and depression

• When to seek company and when it's best to be alone

• Why reminiscing about the past can help create a new future

• Why some people take longer than others to recover their love of life.

This book was used by volunteers working with victims' families after 9/11.

'Vincent van Gogh's last words: La tristesse durea--the sadness will never go away. It will not go away. But it will change.' Sometimes grief can be overwhelming --especially over the holidays. The world is moving forward and celebrating life, but for grievers darkness pervades the holiday.This special gift book edition of bestseller A Decembered Grief is designed to guide you on a journey beyond that darkness and get out on the other side. You will learn that the holidays aren t about presents or cookies or church services-- they are about relationships. Harold Ivan Smith will teach you how to alter traditions instead of abandoning them, appreciate the grief styles of others, and befriend your grief instead of dread it. The holidays can be tough. This book can help.

Now in paperback, a "piercing and beautiful" (Domenica Ruta) memoir about one woman's road to hope following the death of her troubled brother, told through the series of cars that accompanied her Growing up in a blue-collar family in the Midwest, Melissa Stephenson longed for escape. Her wanderlust was an innate reaction to the powerful personalities around her, and came too from her desire to find a place in the world where her artistic ambitions wouldn't be thwarted. She found in automobiles the promise of a future. From a lineage of secondhand family cars of the late '60s, to the Honda that carried her from Montana to Texas as her new marriage disintegrated, to the '70s Ford she drove away from her brother's house after he took his life (leaving Melissa the truck, a dog, and a few mix tapes), to the VW van she now uses to take her kids camping, she knows these cars better than she knows some of the people closest to her. Driven from grief and toward hope, Melissa reckons with what it means to lose a beloved sibling. Driven is a powerful story of healing, for all who have had to look back at pain to find the way forward.

What to Expect When You're No Longer Expecting When your baby dies, you find yourself in a life you never expected. And even though pregnancy and infant loss are common, they're not common to you. Instead, you feel like a stranger in your own body, surrounded by well-meaning people who often don't know how to support you. What you need during this time is not a book offering easy answers. You need a safe place to help you navigate what comes next, such as: * Coping with a postpartum body without a baby in your arms. * Facing social isolation and grief invalidation. * Wrestling with faith when you feel let down by God. * Dealing with the overwhelming process of making everyday decisions. * Learning to move forward after loss. * Creating a legacy for your child. In Unexpecting, bereaved mom Rachel Lewis is the friend you never knew you'd need, walking you through the unique grief of baby loss. When nothing about life after loss makes sense . . . this book will. "The guide that all parents experiencing pregnancy loss need when leaving the hospital grief-stricken, without a baby in their arms."--LINDSEY M. HENKE, founder of Pregnancy After Loss Support

Marilyn Johnson was enthralled by the remarkable lives that were marching out of this world--so she sought out the best obits in the English language and the people who spent their lives writing about the dead. She surveyed the darkest corners of Internet chat rooms, and made a pilgrimage to London to savor the most caustic and literate obits of all. Now she leads us on a compelling journey into the cult and culture behind the obituary page and the unusual lives we don't quite appreciate until they're gone.

On the morning of February 6, 1991, Dennis Apple discovered the lifeless body of his son on their family room couch. Eighteen-year-old Denny had died without warning from what was later explained as complications due to Mono. Sixteen years later, Dennis still struggles with living in a world without his son. Life After the Death of My Son shares a glimpse of the unspeakable pain, helplessness, frustration, and eventual healing that Dennis and his wife, Buelah, have experienced since losing their son. Using excerpts from his journal--which he began the day after Denny died--Dennis explores the dark, lonely road of grieving for a child. He discloses his anger and disappointment with God; discusses his frustrations with friends and family; and shares how he's dealt with the grief attacks, which continue to sneak up and surprise him. His painful, yet promising story offers comfort and connection to those walking similar paths. With understanding and compassion, Dennis offers grieving parents insight from 10 lessons he's learned--and continues to learn. His gentle words and honest understanding will guide those with grieving hearts on their difficult journey; giving them hope; helping them to discover ways in which God is able to continue the life of the child they loved.

We cannot choreograph our own death, but we can die well. This is a book for those who are facing death. It is also for their relatives, friends and carers. John Wyatt looks at recent trends in dying. He examines the 'art of dying', a Christian tradition from the past. We see opportunities for dying well and faithfully, real-world examples of personal growth and instances of reconciliation and personal healing in relationships. On the other hand, there are also challenges to face: the fears and temptations that dying can bring. We learn from Jesus' example as we focus on his words from the cross. The wonderful news is that we can look forward to 'a sure and steadfast hope', the amazing hope of resurrection and its implications for our lives today.

A poignant and introspective memoir from Irish journalist and broadcaster Charlie Bird. In 2021, Charlie Bird was diagnosed with motor neurone disease - a man whose voice was so synonymous with his career faced losing it completely. Yet knowing he had just a short time left with family and friends, what emerged was a great sense of resilience and motivation to take advantage of every moment. Here, Charlie reflects on his life and phenomenal broadcast career through the lens of his diagnosis, as he ponders the big questions and takes stock of the small moments that we so often overlook. Written over the course of 2022 as his health deteriorated, with the help of long-time friend and fellow journalist Ray Burke, this is a candid and unforgettable story about the triumph of the human spirit and, ultimately, what it means to be alive.