Sustaining Persons, Grieving Losses

Sustaining Persons, Grieving Losses PDF Author: Dianne Crowther
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498237959
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
Dementia presents a significant social issue in a hyper-cognitive culture where stigma, relational neglect, and isolation still accompany forgetfulness. This raises serious theological, ecclesiological, and pastoral questions calling for a Christian response. To fight against a malignant social positioning of anyone as an "an empty shell" is crucial; nonetheless, there is another pressing reality, the reality of ongoing loss. Often the focus is on one or the other side: affirming personhood or acknowledging loss and grief. Spiritual caregiving and Christian pastoral caregiving are uniquely placed to offer both sustaining relationship and grief support to both caregivers and persons with dementia. This pastoral approach emerges from cultural scholarship, rigorous on-the-ground research, and theological reflection on God's purposes in responding to persons in and beyond the Christian community. Christian communities are called to be places of agape love, compassion, and hospitality. We, individually and corporately, are called to care: to love, honor, value, comfort, and sustain one another--and "one another" includes those who travel the road of forgetting and those who travel with them. This fresh pastoral approach offers theologically and culturally informed, practical ways of sustaining persons in the midst of their losses, throughout the dementia journey.

Sustaining Persons, Grieving Losses

Sustaining Persons, Grieving Losses PDF Author: Dianne Crowther
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1498237959
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 246

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Book Description
Dementia presents a significant social issue in a hyper-cognitive culture where stigma, relational neglect, and isolation still accompany forgetfulness. This raises serious theological, ecclesiological, and pastoral questions calling for a Christian response. To fight against a malignant social positioning of anyone as an "an empty shell" is crucial; nonetheless, there is another pressing reality, the reality of ongoing loss. Often the focus is on one or the other side: affirming personhood or acknowledging loss and grief. Spiritual caregiving and Christian pastoral caregiving are uniquely placed to offer both sustaining relationship and grief support to both caregivers and persons with dementia. This pastoral approach emerges from cultural scholarship, rigorous on-the-ground research, and theological reflection on God's purposes in responding to persons in and beyond the Christian community. Christian communities are called to be places of agape love, compassion, and hospitality. We, individually and corporately, are called to care: to love, honor, value, comfort, and sustain one another--and "one another" includes those who travel the road of forgetting and those who travel with them. This fresh pastoral approach offers theologically and culturally informed, practical ways of sustaining persons in the midst of their losses, throughout the dementia journey.

Too Much Loss: Coping with Grief Overload

Too Much Loss: Coping with Grief Overload PDF Author: Alan Wolfelt
Publisher: Companion Press
ISBN: 1617222887
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 53

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Book Description
Grief overload is what you feel when you experience too many significant losses all at once, in a relatively short period of time, or cumulatively. In addition to the deaths of loved ones, such losses can also include divorce, estrangement, illness, relocation, job changes, and more. Our minds and hearts have enough trouble coping with a single loss, so when the losses pile up, the grief often seems especially chaotic and defeating. The good news is that through intentional, active mourning, you can and will find your way back to hope and healing. This compassionate guide will show you how.

Bereavement

Bereavement PDF Author: Colin Murray Parkes
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317850823
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
The loss of a loved one is one of the most painful experiences that most of us will ever have to face in our lives. This book recognises that there is no single solution to the problems of bereavement but that an understanding of grief can help the bereaved to realise that they are not alone in their experience. Long recognised as the most authoritative work of its kind, this new edition has been revised and extended to take into account recent research findings on both sides of the Atlantic. Parkes and Prigerson include additional information about the different circumstances of bereavement including traumatic losses, disasters, and complicated grief, as well as providing details on how social, religious, and cultural influences determine how we grieve. Bereavement provides guidance on preparing for the loss of a loved one, and coping after they have gone. It also discusses how to identify the minority in whom bereavement may lead to impairment of physical and/or mental health and how to ensure they get the help they need. This classic text will continue to be of value to the bereaved themselves, as well as the professionals and friends who seek to help and understand them.

Finding Meaning

Finding Meaning PDF Author: David Kessler
Publisher: Scribner
ISBN: 1501192736
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
In this groundbreaking new work, David Kessler—an expert on grief and the coauthor with Elisabeth Kübler-Ross of the iconic On Grief and Grieving—journeys beyond the classic five stages to discover a sixth stage: meaning. In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler Ross first identified the stages of dying in her transformative book On Death and Dying. Decades later, she and David Kessler wrote the classic On Grief and Grieving, introducing the stages of grief with the same transformative pragmatism and compassion. Now, based on hard-earned personal experiences, as well as knowledge and wisdom earned through decades of work with the grieving, Kessler introduces a critical sixth stage. Many people look for “closure” after a loss. Kessler argues that it’s finding meaning beyond the stages of grief most of us are familiar with—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—that can transform grief into a more peaceful and hopeful experience. In this book, Kessler gives readers a roadmap to remembering those who have died with more love than pain; he shows us how to move forward in a way that honors our loved ones. Kessler’s insight is both professional and intensely personal. His journey with grief began when, as a child, he witnessed a mass shooting at the same time his mother was dying. For most of his life, Kessler taught physicians, nurses, counselors, police, and first responders about end of life, trauma, and grief, as well as leading talks and retreats for those experiencing grief. Despite his knowledge, his life was upended by the sudden death of his twenty-one-year-old son. How does the grief expert handle such a tragic loss? He knew he had to find a way through this unexpected, devastating loss, a way that would honor his son. That, ultimately, was the sixth state of grief—meaning. In Finding Meaning, Kessler shares the insights, collective wisdom, and powerful tools that will help those experiencing loss. Finding Meaning is a necessary addition to grief literature and a vital guide to healing from tremendous loss. This is an inspiring, deeply intelligent must-read for anyone looking to journey away from suffering, through loss, and towards meaning.

Living with Grief

Living with Grief PDF Author: Kenneth J. Doka
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
As this book shows us, when a loved one dies we search for meaning in our own lives while struggling to hold onto memories of a precious life lost, O says Senator John Breaux in his introduction to this book. The 29 chapters of this book address the struggles, concerns and issues faced by the bereaved, and those who care for them.

Ambiguous Loss

Ambiguous Loss PDF Author: Pauline BOSS
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674028589
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
When a loved one dies we mourn our loss. We take comfort in the rituals that mark the passing, and we turn to those around us for support. But what happens when there is no closure, when a family member or a friend who may be still alive is lost to us nonetheless? How, for example, does the mother whose soldier son is missing in action, or the family of an Alzheimer's patient who is suffering from severe dementia, deal with the uncertainty surrounding this kind of loss? In this sensitive and lucid account, Pauline Boss explains that, all too often, those confronted with such ambiguous loss fluctuate between hope and hopelessness. Suffered too long, these emotions can deaden feeling and make it impossible for people to move on with their lives. Yet the central message of this book is that they can move on. Drawing on her research and clinical experience, Boss suggests strategies that can cushion the pain and help families come to terms with their grief. Her work features the heartening narratives of those who cope with ambiguous loss and manage to leave their sadness behind, including those who have lost family members to divorce, immigration, adoption, chronic mental illness, and brain injury. With its message of hope, this eloquent book offers guidance and understanding to those struggling to regain their lives. Table of Contents: 1. Frozen Grief 2. Leaving without Goodbye 3. Goodbye without Leaving 4. Mixed Emotions 5. Ups and Downs 6. The Family Gamble 7. The Turning Point 8. Making Sense out of Ambiguity 9. The Benefit of a Doubt Notes Acknowledgments Reviews of this book: You will find yourself thinking about the issues discussed in this book long after you put it down and perhaps wishing you had extra copies for friends and family members who might benefit from knowing that their sorrows are not unique...This book's value lies in its giving a name to a force many of us will confront--sadly, more than once--and providing personal stories based on 20 years of interviews and research. --Pamela Gerhardt, Washington Post Reviews of this book: A compassionate exploration of the effects of ambiguous loss and how those experiencing it handle this most devastating of losses ... Boss's approach is to encourage families to talk together, to reach a consensus about how to mourn that which has been lost and how to celebrate that which remains. Her simple stories of families doing just that contain lessons for all. Insightful, practical, and refreshingly free of psychobabble. --Kirkus Review Reviews of this book: Engagingly written and richly rewarding, this title presents what Boss has learned from many years of treating individuals and families suffering from uncertain or incomplete loss...The obvious depth of the author's understanding of sufferers of ambiguous loss and the facility with which she communicates that understanding make this a book to be recommended. --R. R. Cornellius, Choice Reviews of this book: Written for a wide readership, the concepts of ambiguous loss take immediate form through the many provocative examples and stories Boss includes, All readers will find stories with which they will relate...Sensitive, grounded and practical, this book should, in my estimation, be required reading for family practitioners. --Ted Bowman, Family Forum Reviews of this book: Dr. Boss describes [the] all-too-common phenomenon [of unresolved grief] as resulting from either of two circumstances: when the lost person is still physically present but emotionally absent or when the lost person is physically absent but still emotionally present. In addition to senility, physical presence but psychological absence may result, for example, when a person is suffering from a serious mental disorder like schizophrenia or depression or debilitating neurological damage from an accident or severe stroke, when a person abuses drugs or alcohol, when a child is autistic or when a spouse is a workaholic who is not really 'there' even when he or she is at home...Cases of physical absence with continuing psychological presence typically occur when a soldier is missing in action, when a child disappears and is not found, when a former lover or spouse is still very much missed, when a child 'loses' a parent to divorce or when people are separated from their loved ones by immigration...Professionals familiar with Dr. Boss's work emphasised that people suffering from ambiguous loss were not mentally ill, but were just stuck and needed help getting past the barrier or unresolved grief so that they could get on with their lives. --Asian Age Combining her talents as a compassionate family therapist and a creative researcher, Pauline Boss eloquently shows the many and complex ways that people can cope with the inevitable losses in contemporary family life. A wise book, and certain to become a classic. --Constance R. Ahrons, author of The Good Divorce A powerful and healing book. Families experiencing ambiguous loss will find strategies for seeing what aspects of their loved ones remain, and for understanding and grieving what they have lost. Pauline Boss offers us both insight and clarity. --Kathy Weingarten, Ph.D, The Family Institute of Cambridge, Harvard Medical School

Bereavement

Bereavement PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309034388
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
"The book is well organized, well detailed, and well referenced; it is an invaluable sourcebook for researchers and clinicians working in the area of bereavement. For those with limited knowledge about bereavement, this volume provides an excellent introduction to the field and should be of use to students as well as to professionals," states Contemporary Psychology. The Lancet comments that this book "makes good and compelling reading....It was mandated to address three questions: what is known about the health consequences of bereavement; what further research would be important and promising; and whether there are preventive interventions that should either be widely adopted or further tested to evaluate their efficacy. The writers have fulfilled this mandate well."

Grieving the Loss of Someone You Love

Grieving the Loss of Someone You Love PDF Author: Raymond R. Mitsch
Publisher: Revell
ISBN: 1441225463
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Few losses are as painful as the death of someone close. No valley is as vast as grief, no journey as personal and life changing. Compassionate and wise guides Raymond Mitsch and Lynn Brookside shine a light on the road through grief. They can help you endure the anguish and uncertainty; understand the cycles of grief; sort through the emotions of anger, guilt, fear, and depression; and face the God who allowed you to lose the one you love. A series of thoughtful daily devotions, Grieving the Loss of Someone You Love shares wisdom, insight, and comfort that will help you through and beyond your grief.

Attachment and Loss

Attachment and Loss PDF Author: John Bowlby
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Adjustment (Psychology) in children
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
Provides a comprehensive report on the mother-child bond and the emotional effects of and behavioral response to maternal deprivation.

Bereavement and Health

Bereavement and Health PDF Author: Wolfgang Stroebe
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521287104
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Does the popular notion of a 'broken heart' have some grounding in reality? How can grief affect the body in ways that necessitate medical care and may even be life-threatening? Bereavement and Health constitutes a comprehensive review of what is known about the impact of bereavement on surviving partners. Drawing on the work of psychologists, sociologists, epidemiologists, and psychiatrists, Wolfgang and Margaret Stroebe offer a theoretically coherent perspective focused on conjugal loss. After a thorough discussion of stress and depression models of bereavement, the authors present their own theoretical approach, emphasizing social contacts and the interpersonal nature of grief. They then examine the psychological and medical consequences of bereavement: Are the bereaved at higher risk than those who have not lost a partner? What has research revealed about the causes, symptoms, and outcomes of grief? Key questions about recovery from grief are also addressed: Is the health risk of bereavement severe enough to have lasting or even fatal consequences? Is it possible to identify those bereaved who are at high risk before their health suffers? What are the strategies that are most likely to lead to effective coping? Can attempts at intervention be effective? The Stroebes' combination of theoretical integration and methodological rigor will make Bereavement and Health a standard text for years to come.