Combining the poignant appeal of a love story cut short with the theme of personal growth and the spiritual search for meaning, this book will help to give comfort to those who have shared the pain of bereavement. It shows that they are not alone, that the cycle of grieving is normal and that life does get better. 'Can I Let You Go, My Love?' is more than an outpouring of one woman's experience of bereavement and life beyond grief. It is a verse journal offering a broadening understanding by letting others know what the bereaved are going through. The verses are full of life's lessons and the thoughts and feelings are powerful, profound and heart-rending. It is a book that not only can be used by counsellors and their clients (the manuscript has already been adopted as a therapeutic aid by counsellors) but is just the gift to give to a friend who has lost a loved one or who is going through a crisis in life. 'Can I Let You Go, My Love?' was cited as an Outstanding Contender for the CRUSE Excellence in Communication Award. "For those who are suffering from loss and grief, these poems will be of great assistance to the healing process." Gerald G. Jampolsky, M.D. "A jewel of a book The story is written so directly from the heart that it takes your breath away. It does not describe the essence of bereavement, it is the essence of it." A wonderful book that I can recommend to everyone." Len Kapteijn-Snijders, therapist and bereavement counsellor, magazine of the Dutch Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation

A celebration of a life, a story of a death, but most importantly an exploration of grief and loss relevant to all those in a position to make that experience more bearable. This book is essential reading for anyone working or preparing to work with young adults and others facing terminal illness, and their families. It is written by a bereaved mother of a 25 year-old son treated unsuccessfully for cancer. Heartbreakingly honest, Nina draws on relevant theory, research and narrative texts as well as personal reflections. She considers what might have made the hideous journey through treatment, dying and bereavement easier to bear. This is a moving and memorable story for all of us, but there are also learning points throughout for medics and medical policy makers specifically and the health and social care professions more generally. Students and experienced nurses, doctors, counsellors, clerics and others will benefit from deepening their understanding in order to work more effectively with people facing the unthinkable.

A deeply moving reflection on what matters to us most as we approach the end of life.

Internationally renowned psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom has devoted his career to counselling those suffering from anxiety and grief. But never had he faced the need to counsel himself until his wife, esteemed feminist author Marilyn Yalom, was diagnosed with cancer. In A Matter Of Death And Life, Marilyn and Irvin share how they took on profound new struggles: Marilyn to die a good death, Irvin to live on without her.

In alternating accounts of their last months together and Irvin's first months alone, they offer us a rare window into coping with death and the loss of one's beloved. The Yaloms had rare blessings - a loving family, a beautiful home, a large circle of friends, avid readers around the world, and a long, fulfilling marriage - but they faced death as we all do. With the candour and wisdom of those who have thought deeply and loved well, they investigate universal questions of intimacy, love, and grief.

Informed by two lifetimes of experience, A Matter Of Death And Life offers poignant insights and solace to all those seeking to fight despair in the face of death, so that they can live meaningfully.

The loss of a loved one is one of the most painful experiences that most of us will ever have to face in our lives. This book recognises that there is no single solution to the problems of bereavement but that an understanding of grief can help the bereaved to realise that they are not alone in their experience.

Long recognised as the most authoritative work of its kind, this new edition has been revised and extended to take into account recent research findings on both sides of the Atlantic. Parkes and Prigerson include additional information about the different circumstances of bereavement including traumatic losses, disasters, and complicated grief, as well as providing details on how social, religious, and cultural influences determine how we grieve.

Bereavement provides guidance on preparing for the loss of a loved one, and coping after they have gone. It also discusses how to identify the minority in whom bereavement may lead to impairment of physical and/or mental health and how to ensure they get the help they need. This classic text will continue to be of value to the bereaved themselves, as well as the professionals and friends who seek to help and understand them.

""This book fruitfully serves those looking to apply Ernest Becker's ideas psychotherapeutically, in individual counseling or in group therapy. A capstone to Robert Firestone's 50 years of work in psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and psychiatry and to the numerous books written by these authors, Firestone and Catlett show how to apply the themes and implications of the ideas of Ernest Becker in everyday life. Their basic premise is that accepting death is part of developing an affirming and meaningful experience of life. Contributing to the credibility of their presentation is the wealth of clinical evidence and personal experience Firestone and Catlett incorporate.""

"--The Ernest Becker Foundation"

" F]ascinating and an enjoyable read....steeped in well researched and relevant psychological and sociological perspectives applicable to all social studies areas..."

--Carol Lloyd
University of Chichester

"Firestone and Catlett's work is a marvelous achievement....This volume is both innovative and intrepid. Firestone and Catlett challenge prevailing psychoanalytic views on death and they demolish many of the accepted canons of thanatology and existential psychology. ...This is required reading for anyone who purports to talk about death."
-- Jerry Piven, PhD
Author of "Death and Delusion: A Freudian Analysis of Mortal Terror"

"" A] towering synthesis of personal and clinical wisdom about death....with a superb overview of the psychology of death and death anxiety....Dr. Firestone draws on the best of the existential-humanistic as well as the psychoanalytic thinkers to address a flourishing path toward self-realization.""

-Kirk J. Schneider, PhD
Author, "Existential-Integrative Psychotherapy" and "Awakening to Awe"
(From the Foreword)

Firestone and Catlett's groundbreaking volume assists mental health practitioners in helping their clients learn to accept and face their mortality. They describe the many defenses of death anxiety that keep individuals from achieving personal fulfillment, and also suggest methods to cope directly with fears of death; an approach that, ironically, can lead to more satisfaction, more freedom, and a greater appreciation for the gift of life.

This book examines the many destructive consequences of death anxiety, including introversion, depression, and withdrawal from life. Throughout the book, the authors demonstrate the importance of achieving what they call life-affirming death awareness.

Key topics include:

• The dawning awareness of death and its impact on the developing child
• Literal and symbolic defenses against death anxiety
• Separation theory and "the fantasy bond"
• Challenging the defenses that interfere with living fully
• Microsuicide: the death of the spirit
• Breaking with limiting religious dogma and cultural worldviews

With this book, mental health practitioners and their clients will be able to better understand death awareness, overcome the defenses against death anxiety, and ultimately lead richer, more fulfilling lives.

A story of love and grief. 'I became a widower and a father on the same day' says Joseph Luzzi. His book tells how Dante's 'The Divine Comedy' helped him to endure his grief, raise their infant daughter, and rediscover love. On a cold November morning, Joseph Luzzi, a Dante professor, found himself racing to hospital - his wife, eight-and-a-half months pregnant, had been in a horrible car accident. In one terrible instant, Luzzi became both a widower and a first-time father. Adrift and grieving, Luzzi found himself sharing Dante's dark wood with an intimacy that years of reading had never shown him: the words became a wise companion through the Inferno of his grief, his healing, and ultimately his rediscovered love.

A journey that will compel readers to view life after death in a completely different way. Where - do our loved ones go - After they die? This is the question that has traversed the universe for centuries and is considered one of life's greatest mysteries. While many of the world's renowned philosophers, scientists, theorists, doctors, and great mystics endorsed the existence of the afterlife, no one book has been available to explore it all, until now. Mariel Forde Clarke asserts that whether you believe in God or heaven, you can be comforted by the sense that an afterlife exists beyond the realm of one's physical comprehension. Drawing on the findings of patients who have had near-death experiences and visions, and on those of renowned scientists and doctors, Clarke helps the reader chart the journey of the soul and navigate their grief.

A graphic novel memoir recounting one parent's unique and wrenching journey caring for a child with a terminal diagnosisWhen Rick and Emily's infant son Ronan is diagnosed with Tay-Sachs, an incurable neurological disorder, they are faced with the practical and emotional hurdles of parenting and loving their son-despite the shadow of inevitable loss. Rick Louis narrates this original graphic memoir, with illustrator Lara Antal translating the space that Ronan occupies before, during, and after his life, using flights of fancy and imagination to express the bizarre, heartbreaking, and sometimes even silly reality of human beings suddenly trapped in an impossible situation. Ronan and the Endless Sea of Stars is a graphic memoir for fans of Liana Finck's Passing for Human and Tom Hart's Rosalie Lightning, which was a Goodreads Choice Award semifinalist, Amazon Best Book of 2016, on the Washington Post's Best Graphic Novels of 2016 list, and one of Publishers Weekly's 100 Best Books of 2016. Ronan and the Endless Sea of Stars is a story of warmth and of heartbreak-about finding joy in life, no matter how long or short that life might be.

Break the addiction cycle once and for all with this powerful and compassionate workbook--now fully revised and updated! If you struggle with addiction, know that you are not alone. Addictive behaviors are often the result of loss--the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, or even the end of a romantic relationship. If you're like many others, you may have turned to drugs, alcohol, or other troubling behaviors to avoid the pain of loss. But this only delays the healing process, and can ultimately lead to a destructive cycle that leaves you feeling trapped. So, how can you break free? This second edition of The Mindfulness Workbook for Addiction will help you identify the root of your addictive behaviors while providing healthy coping strategies to deal with the stress, anxiety, and depression that can come from experiencing a loss. With these powerful mindfulness exercises and lifestyle tips, you will be able to replace addictive behaviors with healthy behaviors to begin healing. This workbook will help you: Determine the function your addiction is serving Develop healthy coping skills for dealing with loss Accept your thoughts and emotions Avoid addiction "triggers" Heal broken relationships and build a support system No matter the loss, the mindfulness skills in this workbook will allow you to process your grief and replace your addiction with healthy coping behaviors.

Mourning and the importance of the capacity to bear some helplessness, while still finding pleasure in life, are central to this tightly organized volume. The multi-faceted processes involved in mourning and adaptation are addressed.

What happens for a person emotionally, psychologically and spiritually when confronted by the reality of the death of a loved one, or the impending death of someone close to them, or their own death?

As with the other volumes of the Living Therapy series, Counselling For Death And Dying is composed of fictitious dialogues between clients and their counsellors, and between the counsellors and their supervisors. Within the dialogues are woven the reflective thoughts and feelings of the clients, the counsellors and the supervisors, along with boxed comments on the process and references to person-centred theory. The introduction provides a brief overview of the person-centred approach and an introduction to issues associated with dealing with death and dying.

There are two scenarios described in this title. The first focuses on a middle aged man coming to terms with his reaction to his father’s death, and the impact his behaviour is having upon his family. The second focuses on a client in her late fifties, already in counseling and then being diagnosed with a terminal cancer, coming to terms with the diagnosis and the impact it is having on her family, particularly her two sons, one of whom has a drug problem, the other an alcohol problem.

Learn how to embrace the painful gift of grief and use it for transformation and healing as you journey through the wilderness to a promised life The Unwanted Gift of Grief is a passionate, practical guide through the grieving process for those who have suffered lossand those who suffer with them. Rather than talking people out of their grief and pain as a way to make them feel better, this unique book invites them into the grief and pain as a way to healing, transformation and hope. Using real and in-depth ministry and counseling conversations, it identifies the journey through the wilderness of grief. This powerful book is equally valuable as a gift from a minister to a grieving person, as a professional guide for ministers and counselors, and as a training tool for lay ministers and congregation members. Built on the ministry concept of sojourning, The Unwanted Gift of Grief offers guidelines to be used in helping people in their journey through the adjustment period that follows a loss, a time that may include the darkness of disbelief, frustration, anger, sadness, depression, and healing light as they make their way through the wilderness of grief. Topics examined in The Unwanted Gift of Grief include: grief as gratitude and gift how family and culture can affect grieving different pathways through grief everyone grieves differently sudden loss, slow losing, rejection and suicide identifying the agony and characteristics of depression grief factors that affect marriage and sexuality saying Yes to death factors of faith, science and miracles the labor and contractions of dying and death the hope for healing and cure how to help: the Sojourner's Process Guide the Grief Date: A Guide for Couples fifty ways to make it through the wilderness and much more The Unwanted Gift of Grief is an essential resource for anyone lost in the wilderness of loss and grief, and for professionals, lay ministers, family, and friends who care for them.

'Brown Baby is a beautifully intimate and soul-searching memoir. It speaks to the heart and the mind and bears witness to our turbulent times.' - Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, Other How do you find hope and even joy in a world that is prejudiced, sexist and facing climate crisis? How do you prepare your children for it, but also fill them with all the boundlessness and eccentricity that they deserve and that life has to offer? In Brown Baby, Nikesh Shukla, author of the bestselling The Good Immigrant, explores themes of sexism, feminism, parenting and our shifting ideas of home. This memoir, by turns heartwrenching, hilariously funny and intensely relatable, is dedicated to the author's two young daughters, and serves as an act of remembrance to the grandmother they never had a chance to meet. Through love, grief, food and fatherhood, Shukla shows how it's possible to believe in hope.

Losing a loved one is perhaps the most painful and overwhelming of life's experiences. It challenges you physically and emotionally, raises tough questions about the future, and incites impossible-to-answer questions about what you could have done differently. Your key to understanding all these issues ? and healing ? is your Catholic Faith. Grieving with the Help of Your Catholic Faith gives Catholics a meaningful way to help themselves or others through this challenging time. With personal stories, reassuring prayers, and spiritual wisdom, it provides: An understanding of how grief affects ? and can be lightened by ? the heart, soul, and mind The perspective to sort through difficult physical, emotional, and spiritual feelings Positive ways to deal with sorrow Empowering wisdom for building a stronger faith Tips for providing comfort to adults, teens, and children who are grieving A perfect resource for grief support groups, clergy, lay ministers, and individuals alike, Grieving with the Help of Your Catholic Faith offers comfort, empathy, and inspiration that will be relied upon time and time again.

Told through the eyes and heart of an interfaith hospice chaplain, The Three Regrets shares stories of remarkable men and women who have struggled with regrets. Some harbored them until the very end. Others embraced them as opportunities to resolve their regrets and live life fully... celebrating strength, the power of choice, and peace.

For readers of Richard Paul Evans and Greg Kincaid comes "The 13th Gift," a heartwarming Christmas story about how a random act of kindness transformed one of the bleakest moments in a family's history into a time of strength and love.
After the unexpected death of her husband, Joanne Huist Smith had no idea how she would keep herself together and be strong for her three children--especially with the holiday season approaching. But 12 days before Christmas, presents begin appearing on her doorstep with notes from their "True Friends." As the Smiths came together to solve the mystery of who the gifts were from, they began to thaw out from their grief and come together again as a family. This true story about the power of random acts of kindness will warm the heart, a beautiful reminder of the miracles of Christmas and the gift of family during the holiday season.

Is God to blame? This is often the question that comes to mind when we confront real suffering in our own lives or in the lives of those we love. Pastor Gregory A. Boyd helps us deal with this question honestly and biblically, while avoiding glib answers. Writing for ordinary Christians, Boyd wrestles with a variety of answers that have been offered by theologians and pastors in the past. He finds that a fully Christian approach must keep the person and work of Jesus Christ at the very center of what we say about human suffering and God's place in it. Yet this is often just what is missing and what makes so much talk about the subject seem inadequate and at times even misleading. What comes through inIs God to Blame? is a hopeful picture of a sovereign God who is relentlessly opposed to evil, who knows our sufferings and who can be trusted to bring us through them to renewed life.

In "Pet Death", Dr. Straub addresses issues and feelings commonly encountered after the death of a pet. Practical guidelines are provided for coping with feelings of loss and sorrow. Many questions arise from the difficult topic of euthanasia, and in this book, the medical aspect of this procedure is explained in plain language. "Are your other pets grieving?" and "Should I get another pet right away?" are other questions addressed. Dr. Straub and others openly share their personal accounts of pet loss.

A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. In this searing memoir, Congressman Jamie Raskin tells the story of the forty-five days at the start of 2021 that permanently changed his life-and his family's-as he confronted the painful loss of his son to suicide, lived through the violent insurrection in our nation's Capitol, and led the impeachment effort to hold President Trump accountable for inciting the political violence. On December 31, 2020, Tommy Raskin, the only son of Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin, tragically took his own life after a long struggle with depression. Seven days later on January 6, Congressman Raskin returned to Congress to help certify the 2020 Presidential election results, when violent insurrectionists led by right wing extremist groups stormed the U.S. Capitol hoping to hand four more years of power to President Donald Trump. As our reeling nation mourned the deaths of numerous people and lamented the injuries of more than 140 police officers hurt in the attack, Congressman Raskin, a Constitutional law professor, was called upon to put aside his overwhelming grief-both personal and professional-and lead the impeachment effort against President Trump for inciting the violence. Together this nine-member team of House impeachment managers riveted a nation still in anguish, putting on an unprecedented Senate trial that produced the most bipartisan Presidential impeachment vote in American history. Now for the first time, Congressman Raskin discusses this unimaginable convergence of personal and public trauma, detailing how the painful loss of his son and the power of Tommy's convictions fueled the Congressman's work in the aftermath of modern democracy's darkest day. Going inside Congress on January 6, he recounts the horror of that day, a day that he and other Democrats had spent months preparing for under the correct assumption that they would encounter an attempted electoral coup-not against a President but for one. And yet, on January 6, he faced the one thing he had failed to anticipate: mass political violence designed to block Biden's election. With an inside account of leading the team prosecuting President Trump in the Senate, Congressman Raskin shares never before told stories of just how close we came to losing our democracy that fateful day and lays out the methodical prosecution that convinced Democrats and Republicans alike of Trump's responsibility for inciting insurrectionary violence against our government. Through it all, he reckons with the loss of his brilliant, remarkable son, a Harvard Law student whose values and memory continually inspired the Congressman to confront the dark impulses unleashed by Donald Trump. At turns, a moving story of a father coping with his pain and a revealing examination of holding President Trump accountable for the violence he fomented, this book is a vital reminder of the ongoing struggle for the soul of American democracy and the perseverance that our Constitution demands from us all.

"Our culture celebrates life and youth, but does not prepare us for the premature death of our children. Out of his intense personal grief, which ordinarily is isolating, Doug Daher enables us to understand the vitality of relating and the dynamics of healing in recovering from the death of one's child. This eloquent testimony to the resilience of the human spirit works brilliantly at so many levels of analysis from personal grieving, up through social support and ritual networks, and down to the business systems engulfing death. And the Passenger Was Death takes us on a moving journey--we'd all rather avoid, but eventually must take--conducting us through alien terrain in a most caring, inquisitive and therapeutically vital way." Phil Zimbardo, President American Psychological Association "For something as universal as death, it comes as a shock to find how unique each death is. But that is because a death breaks a specific relationship. Daher's book gives a painfully clear picture of one particular death--that of the young-adult son who meant so much to his father and for whom he had such high hopes. Step by step, Daher takes us through his devastating experience. Readers will be both moved and educated by going through it with him." William Bridges, author of: The Way of Transition: Embracing Life's Most Difficult Moment "An extraordinarily poignant diary-like read written by a grieving parent who chronicles his journey of grief. From the first moment of pain and disbelief through the funeral and the police investigation, hoping beyond hope that the question 'Why' would be answered. And then the realization that 'Why' would offer no solace. "Dr Daher's unique position as PhD psychologist and bereaved father are obvious in the human struggle that presents itself as his journey of healing unfolds. A classic narration on the spiral nature of grief and mourning. It is rich with reminiscences and ritual. " Marilyn S. Walke, Director of Client Care, Centre for Living with Dying

An art therapy book which helps children cope with a life-threating illness. Children are encouraged to express in pictures what they are often incapable of expressing in words.