After the Suicide Funeral: Wisdom on the Path to Posttraumatic Growth references the long and painful journey of bereavement that many suicide-loss-survivors experience in the wake of losing their loved one. A new area of positive psychology offers another vehicle for understanding the consequences of this experience by investigating the possibilities for personal growth within the context of this distressing and traumatic event. There is much to be mined by exploring faith as both a facilitator of growth and an outcome of growth. The contributors to this book are all suicide bereaved and have written short essays about how faith changed and grew as they traversed their journey of bereavement and also buoyed them in their darkest time of loss. Contributors are faith leaders, mental health professionals, caring survivors, and leaders in the fields of suicidology, thanatology, and bereavement. A must-read for any survivor of suicide loss.

After the Suicide Funeral: Wisdom on the Path to Posttraumatic Growth references the long and painful journey of bereavement that many suicide-loss-survivors experience in the wake of losing their loved one. A new area of positive psychology offers another vehicle for understanding the consequences of this experience by investigating the possibilities for personal growth within the context of this distressing and traumatic event. There is much to be mined by exploring faith as both a facilitator of growth and an outcome of growth. The contributors to this book are all suicide bereaved and have written short essays about how faith changed and grew as they traversed their journey of bereavement and also buoyed them in their darkest time of loss. Contributors are faith leaders, mental health professionals, caring survivors, and leaders in the fields of suicidology, thanatology, and bereavement. A must-read for any survivor of suicide loss.

The blogger behind Confessions of a Funeral Director—what Time magazine called a "must read"—reflects on mortality and the powerful lessons death holds for every one of us in this compassionate and thoughtful spiritual memoir that combines the humor and insight of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes with the poignancy and brevity of When Breath Becomes Air. We are a people who deeply fear death. While humans are biologically wired to evade death for as long as possible, we have become too adept at hiding from it, vilifying it, and—when it can be avoided no longer—letting the professionals take over. Sixth-generation funeral director Caleb Wilde understands this reticence and fear. He had planned to get as far away from the family business as possible. He wanted to make a difference in the world, and how could he do that if all the people he worked with were . . . dead? Slowly, he discovered that caring for the deceased and their loved ones was making a difference—in other people’s lives to be sure, but it also seemed to be saving his own. A spirituality of death began to emerge as he observed: The family who lovingly dressed their deceased father for his burial The act of embalming a little girl that offered a gift back to her grieving family The nursing home that honored a woman’s life by standing in procession as her body was taken away The funeral that united a conflicted community Through stories like these, told with equal parts humor and poignancy, Wilde offers an intimate look into the business and a new perspective on living and dying

To our knowledge nothing with The Suicide Funeral (or Memorial Service): Honoring Their Memory, Comforting Their Survivors' scope and depth has ever been published. This is an aid to anyone who will be called upon to do a funeral for the nearly 43,000 suicides in America each year. This book is designed to assist clergy, chaplains, and other faith leaders as they develop sermons and homilies for a funeral service. Its mandate is to help those searching for inspiration even though they may feel confused or uncertain undertaking such a daunting assignment. Those who plan and lead a funeral service may enable family and friends to understand and participate intentionally in their grief process. Clergy can have a significant impact on how people react to the suicide as well as provide comfort and assistance to those left behind on their journey through grief. Your leadership will influence how the suicide's bereaved are treated by others in the days, weeks, and months following the death. Because suicide does not discriminate by race, socio-economic status, or religion, a broad range of faiths and denominations are represented in this book's sermons, services, and perspectives.

To our knowledge nothing with The Suicide Funeral (or Memorial Service): Honoring Their Memory, Comforting Their Survivors' scope and depth has ever been published. This is an aid to anyone who will be called upon to do a funeral for the nearly 43,000 suicides in America each year. This book is designed to assist clergy, chaplains, and other faith leaders as they develop sermons and homilies for a funeral service. Its mandate is to help those searching for inspiration even though they may feel confused or uncertain undertaking such a daunting assignment. Those who plan and lead a funeral service may enable family and friends to understand and participate intentionally in their grief process. Clergy can have a significant impact on how people react to the suicide as well as provide comfort and assistance to those left behind on their journey through grief. Your leadership will influence how the suicide's bereaved are treated by others in the days, weeks, and months following the death. Because suicide does not discriminate by race, socio-economic status, or religion, a broad range of faiths and denominations are represented in this book's sermons, services, and perspectives.

This companion workbook to Understanding Your Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart is designed to help mourners explore the many facets of their unique grief through journaling. Ten essential touchstones for mourners are covered, including being open to the presence of loss, dispelling misconceptions about grief, embracing the uniqueness of grief, seeking reconciliation, and reaching out for help. Journalers are asked specific questions about their feelings of grief as they relate to the ten essential touchstones and are provided with writing space for their reflections.

Explaining the important difference between grief and mourning, this book explores every mourner's need to acknowledge death and embrace the pain of loss. Also explored are the many factors that make each person's grief unique and the many normal thoughts and feelings mourners might have. Questions of spirituality and religion are addressed as well. The rights of mourners to be compassionate with themselves, to lean on others for help, and to trust in their ability to heal are upheld. Journaling sections encourage mourners to articulate their unique thoughts and feelings.