In the Presence of Grief: Helping Family Members Resolve Death, Dying, and Bereavement Issues

by Dorothy Stroh Becvar

Illuminating the impact of loss and grief on our psychological and emotional lives, this book provides vital guidance to ease painful transitions and facilitate healing. The author emphasizes that dealing with the death of a loved one involves more than picking up the pieces and moving rather, healing is an ongoing journey on which grief is a constant companion. For those in a supportive role, the focus is on helping the bereaved to navigate the grieving process and, ultimately, to reclaim joy as well as sadness as an integral part of life. Filled with personal narratives and examples, the book demonstrates effective ways to help survivors cope with commonly experienced issues, problems, and concerns. This compassionate and hopeful work is essential reading for anyone working or living in the presence of grief.

The book begins with a clear overview of death, dying, and bereavement issues, interweaving contemporary clinical perspectives and research findings with evocative firsthand accounts. Described are the variety of contexts in which death may occur, as well as the unique ways that grief may be experienced. Chapters address such topics as the differences between unanticipated and anticipated death and challenges that may emerge around end-of-life issues and care of the dying. Included are in-depth discussions of different kinds of loss, including the death of a child, sibling, parent, spouse, or extended family member or friend. Each chapter is introduced by a personal account from an individual who has suffered that kind of loss, and concludes with a case example derived from the author's clinical practice. Throughout, innovative ideas are presented for helping individuals and families share their stories, find meaning in their experience, and create funerals and other rituals.

This book provides essential insights and strategies for practitioners working with families, including psychologists, family therapists, psychiatrists, social workers, and counselors; physicians and nurses in palliative care settings; and hospice professionals, as well as students in these areas. While written for professionals, the book's lucid, personal style and sensitive coverage of universal themes will also make it suitable for many general readers.

SHORT COPY
Illuminating the impact of loss and grief on our psychological and emotional lives, this book provides vital information to ease painful transitions and facilitate healing. The author emphasizes that dealing with the death of a loved one involves more than picking up the pieces and moving rather, survivors live indefinitely in the presence of grief. For those in a supportive role, the focus is on helping the bereaved to navigate the grieving process and, ultimately, to reclaim joy as well as sadness as an integral part of life. The book explores pathways to recovery from different kinds of loss, including the death of a child, sibling, parent, spouse, or extended family member or friend, as well as challenges that may emerge around care of the dying and issues at the end of life. Personal accounts and therapeutic case material are interwoven with practical suggestions for helping individuals and families share their stories, find meaning in their experience, and create funerals and other rituals. While written for professionals, the book's lucid, personal style and sensitive coverage of universal themes make it suitable for many general readers as well.

Genres: Counselling

284 pages, Hardcover

First published September 24, 2001

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not a bad book per se. I was looking for something to help my clients who are grieving; this was not that book.

This book while extensive seems more facile; she skims over juicy pertinent subjects. She notably leaves out some major thinkers about grief like Neimeyer and Worden; maybe social work has a different set of theoreticians that I don't know about.

Two parts were particularly valuable (if too brief). First, I enjoyed learning about Anya Foos-Graber's multicultural concept of "deathing" as a way to actively engage one's own dying process. Second, the ways to provide support for grieving individuals was nice--being with the pain, dealing with anger, transforming guilt, forgiving self and others, working for justince, and changing painful images.

[Berryparfait · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book deals well with not only how to cope with grief but how to understand what others experience in grief. It goes beyond what one typically thinks of the stages of grief to how each of those stages is different for different forms of grief.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was of great help to me at a difficult time. I highly recommend it for everyone, even if it only to know what to do when someone loses a loved one