A compassionate guide to the experience of loss as an essential growth process
• Explores the nature of loss as a profound mystery shared by all human beings
• Offers sensitive and practical advice for experiencing grief and preparing for the healing journey that follows
We grieve only for that which we have loved, and the transient nature of life makes love and loss intimate companions. In Good Grief professional grief educator Deborah Morris Coryell describes grief as the experience of not having anywhere to place our love, of losing a connection, an outlet for our emotion. To heal grief we have to learn how to continue to love in the face of loss.
In this compassionate guide, Coryell gives inspiring examples of how embracing our losses allows us to awaken our most profound connections to other people. Though our society tends to rank losses in a “hierarchy of grief,” she reminds us that all losses must be grieved in their own right and on their own terms, and that we must honor the “small” losses as well as the “big” ones. Paying attention to even the most minute experiences of loss can help us to be more in tune with our responses to the greater ones, allowing us to once again become part of the rhythm of life from which we have become disconnected.
“[For] people who are dealing with grief or who are going through other major life transitions. I draw upon Deborah Coryell’s wisdom and expertise and recommend Good Grief as a resource for both patients and physicians.”
"Coryell has written a compassionate and quietly inspiring book explaining why we should grieve, how to grieve without getting lost in despair, and what healing can occur when you grieve. . . . I highly recommend this book. It's exceptionally well-written, with a gentleness and strength that supports those experiencing loss, as well as their friends and family members who wish to help, but need direction to do so."
"This slim yet powerful book will help readers to not just deal with grief, but also to benefit from it."
“Helps families deal with grief in a way that is nurturing, honoring, and life-affirming.”
