If Theres Anything I Can Do: An Easy Guide to Showing You Care

by Susan McClelland, Susan McCelland

For those of us who find ourselves at a loss as to how we can help friends faced with some kind of misfortune, here are practical suggestions -- what to say, what to do, what to write, what to give. Helps you be the kind of person you want to be (and really are)!

178 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

Reviews

[Susan Beam-Gilleland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical suggestions to help with events in our friends lives in order to really be a help to them.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Christian circles, responding to people who are hurting is categorically referred to as "pastoral care" whether performed by clergy or laity. I think that, of the dozen or so books I've ever read on pastoral care, all were written from a Christian perspective and all were written for the benefit of clergy. This one is not. Based on personal experience, the authors (neither of whom are professional caregivers) make excellent general suggestions for how to respond when there is death, hospitalization, illness, the loss of a job, divorce, and other life-shattering events. This is practical advice without a theological underpinning ... and it doesn't seem to suffer from that lack. Many people are immobilized when such a need arises and many others respond in ways ranging from inappropriate to disastrous. There are almost as many "don'ts" as "dos" in this book. For people who care about people but are often conflicted about what to do when bad things happen, this is a useful text.