HELP FOR YOUR GRIEF: Turning Emotional Loss into Growth

by Arthur S. Freese ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 9, 1977

A diffuse, repetitive examination of grief and mourning as a normal and fairly predictable process. Most current professional thinking on this common human experience stresses progressive stages, and Freese emphasizes three: the first days of numbing shock; the second, acute stage with its severe sense of loss; and the beginnings of recovery and return to normal life. Freese reviews some physiological effects of grief; special problems confronted in various types of bereavement (the finding that mothers often never recover from the death of a child is mentioned in at least five different places); steps to help the bereaved; and the role of funeral rites and religion in offering stability and comfort. It is important not to repress emotions and feelings, Freese stresses, for that may retard the healing process. A grieving person might find some help because he works from basically reliable sources; but headings like ""The Promise of Grief"" or ""Grief Work: A Job to Be Done"" may irritate some, and the particulars tend to dissolve in simplistic generalizations which offer little comfort to those who cannot conceive of their despair as either an opportunity for personal growth or a job to be done.

Pub Date: May 9, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Schocken

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1977

Categories: NONFICTION