This Thing Called Grief: New Understandings of Loss » (1ST)

Grief is a crazy-making, complicated process, a struggle to acknowledge the life-changing impact of loss. It affects every dimension of the self; it is despairing, isolating, and overwhelming. It is depriving, mischievous, and keeps you unbalanced. Grief is so personally unique and ever changing that getting your hands around it once and for all seems impossible. Someone or something is gone, and you are left broken, empty, and afraid. This Thing Called Grief shows that although grief and pain may be changing you now, they have the potential to transform your life in a healing way. Ellis uses many real-life narratives of loss from his therapy practice to help illustrate various ways of grieving, and shows how you can learn from the experience of loss and make your way towards a place of healing transitions and a renewed sense of life.

Library Journal

Registered yoga coach and corporate teacher Dickey has compiled a hodgepodge of advice. She begins with a garden theme, moves to the creation of treasure maps and personal crests, and sprinkles the text with biblical teachings and family pictures. Using her personal experiences, she suggests to readers how they can free themselves from the "shadow issues" (e.g., feeling lonely or inadequate) and self-defeating behaviors that hold them back. In making her points, she culls information from a wide variety of sources-ancient folklore, sales training workshops, observations of animals and plants, the Bible, Zen wisdom, and the experiences of friends and acquaintances. Licensed marriage and family therapist Ellis, on the other hand, defines "shadow" as grief, discussing how isolating and overwhelming it can be. He uses narratives of loss from his therapy practice and details how grief and pain can ultimately transform one's life in a healing way, even though the present might seem hopeless and terrifying. In a little more than 100 pages, the author empathizes with the sufferer, dwells in the muck awhile, then takes the sufferer to a place where he or she can live and breathe again. His short, excellent, and readable book-perfect for someone experiencing grief and sadness-is recommended for all libraries. Dickey needs to spend more time with an editor, so Back to the Garden is not recommended. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.