In this best-selling memoir, brimming with gallows humor and vivid characters, she marvels at the gruesome history of undertaking and relates her unique coming-of-age story with bold curiosity and mordant wit.
Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty embarks on a global expedition to discover how other cultures care for the dead.
This book explores interviews and conversations to give the reader a better understanding of how imminent death affects the patient, medical professionals and the patient's family.
Through their stories we come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; we also discover the gifts—of wisdom, faith, and love—that the dying leave for the living to share.
This book provides a path to rethink our relationship with grief. It encourages readers to see their grief as a natural response to death and loss, rather than an aberrant condition needing transformation. It’s OK That You’re Not OK shows readers how to live with skill and compassion during their grief, but it isn’t just a book for people in pain: this book is about making things better for everyone.
After the focus on planning and outpouring of love from family and friends in the immediate aftermath following the loss of a loved one, we are left to enter a new version of our lives where someone important is missing. The short, poignant meditations given here follow the course of the year, but it is not a necessity to follow them chronologically. They will strengthen, inspire, and give comfort for as long as they are needed.
After someone close to you dies, whether this happened many years ago or recently, it can be difficult to feel whole again. This loss can result in an overwhelming feeling of uncertainty, sadness, and loneliness. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to feel to feel better over time.
Grief hurts. Don’t do it alone. Learn to navigate any loss—a parent, a friendship, a job, a miscarriage—at your own pace with the help of a licensed grief and trauma therapist.
Noted psychotherapist Francis Weller provides an essential guide for navigating the deep waters of sorrow and loss in this lyrical yet practical handbook for mastering the art of grieving. Describing how Western patterns of amnesia and anesthesia affect our capacity to cope with personal and collective sorrows, Weller reveals the new vitality we may encounter when we welcome, rather than fear, the pain of loss.
Inspiring hope, solace, and courage in living through our losses, author Martin Prechtel, trained in the Tzutujil Maya shamanic tradition, shares profound insights on the relationship between grief and praise in our culture--how the inability that many of us have to grieve and weep properly for the dead is deeply linked with the inability to give praise for living.
Organized into fifty-two short chapters, Bearing the Unbearable is a companion for life’s most difficult times, revealing how grief can open our hearts to connection, compassion, and the very essence of our shared humanity.
A journey into the field of music-thanatology: what it is, and how it uses live harp and voice to bring beauty, peace and compassion to the dying and their loved ones.
The cofounder of the Zen Hospice Project and pioneer behind the compassionate care movement shares an inspiring exploration of the lessons dying has to offer about living a fulfilling life.
After a loved one dies, each day can be a struggle. But each day, you can also find comfort and understanding in this daily companion. With one brief entry for every day of the calendar year, this little book by beloved grief counselor Dr. Alan Wolfelt offers small, one-day-at-a-time doses of guidance and healing.
A hospice doctor and caregiver shares the 7 inspirational lessons she has learned from the dying—and gives a daily spiritual practice to help live them.
Written to help readers feel more in control of an experience that so often seems anything but controllable. Get advice for how to break the news to your employer, whether to share old secrets with your family, how to face friends who might not be as empathetic as you’d hoped, and how to talk to your children about your will.
Talking about Death is a classic guide for parents helping their children through the death of a loved one. With a helpful list of dos and don'ts, an illustrated read-along dialogue, and a guide to explaining death, Grollman provides sensitive and timely advice for families coping with loss.
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. The good news is that through intentional, active mourning, you can and will find your way back to hope and healing.
In The Next World, historian of religions Gregory Shushan explores the relationships between extraordinary experiences and beliefs in life after death. Drawing on over two decades of research into cross-cultural afterlife beliefs and extraordinary experiences, The Next World presents not only an accessible overview of Shushan's work, but also takes a bold new step in psychical research.
If we wish to understand loss experiences we must learn details of survivors' stories. The new version of How We Grieve: Relearning the World tells in-depth tales of survival to illustrate the poignant disruption of life and suffering that loss entails. It shows how through grieving we overcome challenges, make choices, and reshape our lives.
This book shows the reader how to open to the immensity of living with death, to participate fully in life as the perfect preparation for whatever may come next.
What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.
This powerful book is Didion’ s attempt to make sense of the “weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness ... about marriage and children and memory ... about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself.
A heartwarmingly true story of a college student and the professor that becomes his mentor. It's unceasingly reassuring that life can and should revolve around love. This charming narrative appeals to a general audience for its honesty and approachability.
During her treatment for cancer, Mary Anne Schwalbe and her son Will spent many hours sitting in waiting rooms together. To pass the time, they would talk about the books they were reading. Once, by chance, they read the same book at the same time—and an informal book club of two was born.
In her first memoir, New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast brings her signature wit to the topic of aging parents. Spanning the last several years of their lives and told through four-color cartoons, family photos, and documents, and a narrative as rife with laughs as it is with tears, Chast's memoir is both comfort and comic relief for anyone experiencing the life-altering loss of elderly parents.
Exploring motherhood, marriage, friendship, and memory, Nina asks: What makes a meaningful life when one has limited time? Brilliantly written and exceptionally moving, it’s a “deeply affecting memoir, a simultaneously heartbreaking and funny account of living with loss and the specter of death.
A Grief Observed is C.S. Lewis’s honest reflection on the fundamental issues of life, death, and faith in the midst of loss. Written after his wife’s tragic death as a way of surviving the “mad midnight moments,” A Grief Observed is an unflinchingly truthful account of how loss can lead even a stalwart believer to lose all sense of meaning in the universe, and how he can gradually regain his bearings.
In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. It was her mother's diagnosis of terminal cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.
A celebrated journalist, bestselling author (The Night of the Gun), and recovering addict, David Carr was in the prime of his career when he suffered a fatal collapse in the newsroom of The New York Times in 2015. Shattered by his death, his daughter Erin Lee Carr, at age twenty-seven an up-and-coming documentary filmmaker, began combing through the entirety of their shared correspondence—1,936 items in total—in search of comfort and support.
Writing in a style free of technical jargon, the contributors discuss documents that should be prepared (health proxy, do-not-resuscitate order, living will, power of attorney); decision-making (over medical interventions, life support, hospice and palliative care, aid-in-dying, treatment location, speaking for those who can no longer express their will); and the roles played by religion, custom, family, friends, caretakers, money, the medical establishment, and the government.
The purpose of this handbook is to provide nurses, coaches, and other health care professionals with opportunities for reflection and inspiration in their work. In this book you will find fresh ideas, tools, and reflective practices that encourage you to explore your personal beliefs and values about aging, advanced illness, and dying. It is intended to inspire you to reimagine the end of life as a vital part of how we become fully human.
The third edition of the Handbook of Thanatology is an accessible volume that offers essential knowledge in the field of thanatology in a format that is practical for both novices and those with extensive experience in the field.
A renowned grief expert and neuroscientist shares groundbreaking discoveries about what happens in our brain when we grieve, providing a new paradigm for understanding love, loss, and learning.
In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie—man’s refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates decades after its writing.
Allan Kellehear takes the reader on a 2 million year journey of discovery that covers the major challenges we will all eventually face: anticipating, preparing, taming and timing for our eventual deaths.
Providing an overview of the myriad ways that we are touched by death and dying, both as an individual and as a member of society, this book will help readers understand our relationship with death.
The Body Keeps the Score uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust.
Practical and inspiring, this book helps you learn how to navigate encounters with death, dying, and bereavement. The authors emphasize ways that individuals and families can cope with life-threatening illness, grief, funerals, and other death-related topics -- including how to communicate constructively in the face of death.
The 14 chapters in Ethics at the End of Life: New Issues and Arguments, all published here for the first time, focus on recent thinking in this important area, helping initiate issues and lines of argument that have not been explored previously.
In this book, Halifax offers lessons from dying people and caregivers, as well as guided meditations to help readers contemplate death without fear, develop a commitment to helping others, and transform suffering and resistance into courage.
This book presents a model for grief counseling based on Dr. Wolfelt’s “companioning” principles. This book advocates a model of “companioning” the bereaved, acknowledging that grief forever changes or transforms the mourner’s world view.
Encompassing new content on the treatment of grief, loss, and bereavement, the updated and revised fifth edition of this gold-standard grief therapy book continues to deliver the most up-to-date research and practical information for upper-level students and practitioners alike.
Through captivating stories and thoughtful analysis, Maria Trozzi explains how to handle the difficult job of talking with children and adolescents about loss.
The book provides a foundation for understanding, assessing, and responding effectively to grief and loss. The content is designed for students and professionals who find themselves working in proximity to loss, trauma, and grief in various capacities.
Based on Butler’s experience caring for aging parents, and hundreds of interviews with people who have successfully navigated our fragmented health system and helped their loved ones have good deaths, The Art of Dying Well also draws on the expertise of national leaders in family medicine, palliative care, geriatrics, oncology, and hospice.
The definitive resource on perhaps the single most universal human concern: death. This edition addresses contemporary issues in end-of-life care and includes an all-embracing and incisive afterword that examines the state of health care and our relationship with life as it approaches its terminus. How We Die also discusses how we can take control of our own final days and those of our loved ones.
Caring for someone as they approach the end of their life is not the same as caring for someone who is going to get better. Whether the patient is at home, in a nursing home or hospital this kit will give you the valuable information you need to understand the dying process.
This important volume of work by experts in ethics and end-of-life care examines issues of hospice care for children and teens; voluntary stopping of eating and drinking (VSED) and medical aid in dying (MAiD).
Author and resilience/well-being expert Lucy Hone, a pioneer in positive psychology and bereavement research, was faced with her own inescapable sorrow when, in 2014, her 12-year-old daughter was killed in a car accident. By following the strategies of resilient grieving, she found a proactive way to move through her grief, and, over time, embrace life again.
After a suicide, loved ones painfully struggle to make sense of the unexplainable tragedy. The Gift of Second comes alongside loss survivors and helps navigate the common pitfalls for those left behind. It offers hope and encouragement to guide survivors through this desperate time.
For more than 35 years, Dr. Kirk has been studying, teaching, and researching the literature of black suicide. In this landmark study, he discusses several theories about suicide.
Reach out and grab the hand of multiple award-winning author and grief counselor Gary Roe. Let him walk with you through this uncharted, forbidding territory.
Based on Gabor Maté’s two decades of experience as a medical doctor and his groundbreaking work with people with addiction on Vancouver’s skid row, this #1 international bestseller radically re-envisions a much misunderstood condition by taking a compassionate approach to substance abuse and addiction recovery.
Gentle and reassuring, What Does Grief Feel Like? shares the many ways people can grieve when a loved one dies and validates children’s unique grief experiences. Open-ended questions throughout the book invite children to share what they are thinking, feeling, and going through.
A comforting story written from the perspective of a young child to help kids identify, experience, and process feelings of grief after losing a loved one.
When the death of a relative, a friend, or a pet happens or is about to happen . . . how can we help a child to understand? Lifetimes is a moving book for children of all ages, even parents too. It lets us explain life and death in a sensitive, caring, beautiful way.
When a loved one dies, it can be hard to know how to explain it to a young child, particularly if you are grieving the loss yourself. Written at a developmental level that is appropriate for two- and three-year-olds, the story explains death; lets children know that it is okay to feel sad; and reassures children that they can still love the person who died, and the person who died will always love them.
A cute dragon book with beautiful illustrations, this is a must have for children, parents and teachers to open up conversations about loss, and to help kids who suffered from the loss of a loved one.
When Someone Dies walks children through the bereavement process in a simple, concrete, and developmentally appropriate way. Through the lens of mindfulness, children will learn how to say goodbye, make space for any emotions that arise, and work through their grief.
Loss becomes remembrance in this book that offers tender ways to pay tribute to, and meaningfully incorporate, a loved one’s lost presence into present and future life experiences. Be it departed friends, family, pets, and more, memories can carry us beyond the precious moments we have together to keep the ones we loved before in mind forever.
Losing a loved one can be one of life’s most traumatic experience and certainly can have a profound effect on children through Adulthood. This book explores the theme of Grief in a lighthearted and soulful way with the aim of helping young readers embrace hope, comfort, and guidance through varying complex emotions.
Feeling All My Grief focuses on universal truths about death. It reassures kids that it's okay to feel sad, angry, scared, worried, confused, or a mix of feelings when someone we care about dies. When we give ourselves time to heal, we can soon make space for gratitude, happiness, and love as well.
When Someone You Love Has Died is an award-winning, heartfelt, and compassionate children's picture book that gently addresses the topic of death and the experiences that come with it. Through sensitive storytelling and beautiful illustrations, this book offers reassurance and comfort while guiding young readers through the process of understanding and coping with their emotions during a difficult time.
This is a true story of how a cardinal offered hope to a grieving family struggling to adjust to their loss. It encourages anyone experiencing loss to pay attention to Mother Nature’s gifts as she teaches us to be hopeful without forgetting those we love.
When someone you care about isn't here anymore, your love for them continues… What do you do with that love when that someone isn't here to give it to? Everywhere, Still is a book about loss and grief--whether that loss is permanent or temporary. And it's a reminder that there is always a way to stay close with the people who are biggest in our hearts, no matter how far across space and time they may be.
A book of comfort for grief and loss appropriate for all ages. When a loved one passes away it can be very difficult to talk about good memories and the lasting impact of their love. This book helps commemorate the loved ones that are no longer here and cherish the love and guidance that their presence has left us with to help cope with sadness, loneliness, separation and difficult emotions.
In this heartfelt book about grief, children are gently introduced to the profound reality that sometimes life can be sad, confusing, and overwhelming all at once. This is more than just a grief book; it's a tender narrative that delicately addresses the theme of loss and death for kids.
When High School Senior, Sam's, best friend dies unexpectedly after two months in the hospital, how will Sam deal with their grief? A graphic novel written at a 1st-2nd grade reading level.
Ida, Always is an exquisitely told story of two best friends—inspired by a real bear friendship—and a gentle, moving, needed reminder that loved ones lost will stay in our hearts, always.
After the death of his father, Little Tree begins to learn how to cope with his feelings and start the healing process. With the help and support of his family and friends, Little Tree learns to cope by discovering what is really important in life, and realizing his father's memory will carry on.
In a warm and conversational manner, the young author, whose mother died just before his 5th birthday, is supportive, uplifting, informative and transparent. This book was written by a kid who experienced loss and grief, for kids who are experiencing loss and grief.
One day, the children find a bird lying on its side with its eyes closed and no heartbeat. They are very sorry, so they decide to say good-bye. In the park, they dig a hole for the bird and cover it with warm sweet-ferns and flowers. Finally, they sing sweet songs to send the little bird on its way. A beautiful book to share with children beginning to grapple with loss.
When our pets aren't with us anymore, an Invisible Leash connects our hearts to each other. Forever. That's what Zack's friend Emily tells him after his dog dies. Zack doesn't believe it. He only believes in what he can see. But on an enlightening journey through their neighborhood—and through his grief—he comes to feel the comforting tug of the Invisible Leash. And it feels like love.
The story follows a young boy who embarks on a journey to Pet Paradise, a place where pets go after they pass away. The book skillfully handles the delicate topic of death with sensitivity and compassion, offering solace to children in a way they can understand.
The passing of a pet can be an emotional challenge for both kids and adults. For many, losing a pet feels like losing a beloved member of the family — and we all grieve in our own ways.
The book includes a guide for adults and a list of discussion questions to help children and adults talk honestly about the difficult emotions that arise after the sudden loss of a loved one. Through conversations, pictures, sculpture, playacting, and more, children can share their fears, learn how to cope, and receive appropriate reassurance about their own safety.
It Won't Ever Be the Same is a validating and reassuring book that speaks directly to teens experiencing grief, providing them with tools to understand, express, and cope.
Everyone has questions about death. In Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, best-selling author and mortician Caitlin Doughty answers the most intriguing questions she’s ever received about what happens to our bodies when we die.
Through frank and accessible testimonials, Lynne Hughes and the kids of Comfort Zone Camp share the most difficult parts of their losses and offer their own experiences.
Unthinkable. Unbelievable. Heartbreaking. Whatever words we choose, they all fall far short of the reality. The loss of a child is a terrible thing. How do we survive this? Can we? Shattered: Surviving the Loss of a Child was written to help.
When your baby dies, you find yourself in a life you never expected. And even though pregnancy and infant loss are common, they're not common to you. Instead, you feel like a stranger in your own body, surrounded by well-meaning people who often don't know how to support you.
This book is a simple book of love written for you, a grieving loss mom, from other loss moms who have also heard those life-altering, soul-shattering words, “I’m sorry there is no heartbeat” or “I’m sorry, your baby is gone.”
This book is a simple book of letters written for you, a grieving loss dad, from other loss dads who are living and surviving after the death of their precious child.
No matter where you are in your grieving process, The Unspeakable Loss provides a space to mourn in your own way, and helps you understand how the death of a child affects siblings, other family members and friends, recognizing that we each grieve differently.
Understanding the depth of your bond and learning to celebrate rather than mourn your years together helps memorialize your pet. It also equips you with perspective and the capacity to love again.
If the loss of a feline friend has hit you particularly hard, know you are not alone. In Soul Comfort for Cat Lovers, you will find validation, coping insights, and practical wisdom conveyed with spiritual warmth.
Our cats occupy a unique space in our hearts. When they’re gone, the loss can be devastating, the grief profound. P.S. I Love You More Than Tuna gives us an opportunity to give friends, loved ones, or ourselves tangible comfort during the grieving period, when so many of us feel isolated and misunderstood after a beloved pet dies.
Filled with heartwarming stories and practical guidance on such matters as taking care of yourself while mourning, creating rituals to honor your pet's memory, and talking to children about death, Goodbye, Friend is a beautiful and comforting book for anyone grieving the loss of a beloved animal.
Losing my Best Friend: Thoughtful Support for those Affected by Dog Bereavement or Pet Loss offers practical advice about what to do when your pet passes away, including tips on helping your children or other pets cope with the loss, designing your own ceremony to celebrate your dog’s life, and creating memorials.
In this invaluable guide and touchstone, New York Times bestselling author Jon Katz addresses the difficult but necessary topic of saying goodbye to a beloved pet. Drawing on personal experiences, stories from fellow pet owners, and philosophical reflections, Katz provides support for those in mourning.
