Understanding Grief: Helping Yourself Heal

Rating:
Summary: Sensitive and useful
Review: If you liked this book, also try "The Healing Journey Through Grief" by Phil Rich. This is a self help journaling book that will help you to understand, work through, and write about your bereavement. There are other books in the "Healing Journey" series too that are worth checking out. including books (all called "The Healing Journey" and all by Phil Rich and other co-authors) including a books on journaling for individuals (The Healing Journey) and one on journaling for couples("The Healing Journey for Couples") and others ("The Healing Journey Through...") divorce, menopause, job loss, retirement, and addiction.

Rating:
Summary: Solace and Wisdom When You Feel No One Understands
Review: This book has been a great comfort to me during many moments of extreme loneliness and pain. Grieving can make you feel misunderstood, misplaced and lost -- and this author truly understands. Reading this compassionate book helped me realize that all of the extreme feelings one experiences while grieving are completely normal. The many written exercises in the book can be tough to work through, but they are healing. You could easily skip all the exercises and find comfort in reading the text alone. I also found this book very helpful in understanding and dealing with people who expect you to just "pick up the pieces" and get on with life right after the funeral. The book makes the point that Western society in general is guilty of encouraging those of us who mourn to cut our grieving process short. This book is perfect for the person grieving a loss, as a gift for a family member or friend who is grieving, or as a primer for those who are walking with someone through grief and would like some insight into the process and experience of grieving.

Rating:
Summary: Invaluable, infomrative, comforting, encouraging.
Review: Understanding Grief is a compassionate, effective guide to coping with the death of a loved one. Alan Wolfelt presents more than 100 workshops a year for hospices, schools, funeral homes, community groups and service organizations and shared his expertise in helping bereaved people move toward healing by encouraging them to explore their unique journeys into grief and mourning. Understanding Grief covers such issues as common myths about grief and mourning, what to expect, taking care of oneself in the grieving process, when additional help is needed, helping guidelines for support groups, and helping a friend in grief. Readers are asked specific questions about their personal grief journeys and encouraged to thing about and write down their responses. Understanding Grief is an invaluable, informative, comforting, and encouraging book that is highly recommended for personal, counseling center, and public library grief management collections.