Losing a Parent: Passage to a New Way of Living – A Personal Memoir and Innovative Guide for Healing

by Alexandra Kennedy

Kennedy shares her own story of facing the loss of a parent and offers innovative strategies for healing and transformation.

Genres: Grief, Self Help, Death, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 1991

About the author

MA LMFT

Reviews

[Marianne]

Had some good nuggets. Over all it was a little bit too "✌️☮️🧘‍♀️" to help me.

[A J]

Encouraging readers to explore their internal dialogue, Dr. Kennedy invites readers to join her in meditation and reflection on life and death. Readers walk with Kennedy through her own meditation practices as she journeys with her father in his final months on the earth and transitions into the realm of the eternal. Her meditations can get a bit lengthy at times, especially for those who have very recently experienced their own loss. I would encourage readers to wait a few months after their parent has died to read this book, or to begin reading as their parent approaches or enters hospice. I found it particularly helpful in exploring and healing some of my own childhood memories a few months after my father died. In Kennedy, I found a companion who understood the opening of the spiritual realm that can come during the dying process of a parent, especially if we are intentionally present and open to the experiences.

[Elizabeth]

A sensitive book on the subject, but with a heavy emphasis on the author's own very personal spiritual journeys. Her shamanic experiences and dream-world visitations with spirit guides and loved ones are certainly interesting, but can be difficult to relate to for those of us who have not explored these otherworldly terrains as deeply. It makes one want to learn more about how to access those parts of ourselves (and the universe), but that's a lot to take on when you're just trying to get through each day, one day at a time, in the immediate aftermath of a loss.

[Ashlee]

A lot on Shamanic journeys. Helpful tips, wanted more solid advice and less visual examples of her imagination.

[Steve Deflitch]

I didn't buy into the whole Shaman idea, but loved the way she shared her experiences on how grief is dealt with (or not) in America.