Moving Beyond Loss: Real Answers to Real Questions from Real People―Featuring the Proven Actions of The Grief Recovery Method

by Russell Friedman, John W. James

In October of 2010 the authors became exclusive providers of grief and Grief Recovery related content on a memorial website called Tributes.com, a site that receives approximately 1.5 million unique hits per month, and to which readers submit very personal and unique grief-related questions. Collected in this book are not only a bounty of personal and often moving questions, but also the authors’ equally compelling responses and tips for using the Grief Recovery Method to deal with their broken hearts. The book not only deals with grief from loss of a loved one [or less than loved one], but also the grieving that occurs following a divorce, a sudden downturn in health, the loss of a job, and even the loss of faith.

Genres: Grief

268 pages, Paperback

First published December 4, 2012

Reviews

[M. H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book comes across as primarily an advertisement for the book "Grief Recovery Method" also written by the author. If there had been a chapter that gave a very brief outline of what the "grief recovery actions" are then maybe it would've rated a higher level of stars.

[Rita · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't care for this one. Letters from those grieving, bt responses back all similar and kept referring to their other book.

[Jeri Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has a question and answer format. Easy to skip around to find those that relate to your needs.

[Annette Abbott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I consider myself very good at dealing with trauma, but the death of a dear family member and friend has completely torn out my heart to the point that I'm not sure it will ever heal. I recently stumbled across this book at the library in the "new books" section and read it cover-to-cover in one evening. It appears to be an add-on book to the authors' earlier book "Grief Recovery Handbook" (which I hope to read later). The format of "Moving Beyond Loss" is Q&A - letters from folks like myself who find themselves at a loss on knowing how to move forward. We're often told what to expect when grieving from well meaning family/friends - for example what's a normal timeline for the grieving process or the various stages of grief. However, the one message that goes throughout this book is simple -- there is no one way to grieve. Each does it in his/her own way at his/her own time. Some of the answers dealt with include: should we grieve alone? what to do when you're robbed of saying goodbye, if you move on, is that letting go? what about crying? should you put on a strong front to others? keep or get rid of their possessions? etc. There's a lot of repetition in the book. Mainly because many of the answers can apply to various situations - for example: "action helps heal wounds." I can't compare this to other books because it's the first one I've read regarding death and losing a loved one. That said, this answered a lot of my questions -- so much so that I would like to read their other book.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book appears to be an introduction to the topic of recovering from loss. It is a complement to another book from the same authors. The book offered a number of important insights regarding how a person can recover from the loss of a loved one. On of the best insights that the passage of time does not heal all wounds. The book also stress the healing power of forgiveness. Some of the information offered is a little vague and repetitive. In my experience, grief is often connected to trauma but the book mentions little about trauma. Overall, the book is easy to read, well organized and if someone is experiencing loss, he/she would probably find this book to be helpful.

[Corey Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Losing several people, including my husband last year, I was looking for a book that would give me a little advice on what usually happens during grief.

The high level had nothing shocking. Much as written before but this book had a layout of going through the main points. The letters from people and their responses were a great way to feel that this is more than just jargon or theory on paper.

Best take away for me is that there is not grief steps that one goes through and is “done”. Different emotions hit as different and often repeated times. And there is no “getting over it”. Life moves forward and the book is trying to help us do that.

[Priscilla]

Good background info.