What do you say to someone who has been diagnosed with a terminal disease? How can you help someone who knows they are dying, or people who have just said goodbye for the last time to someone they love? You want to help, but how can you be sure you aren't doing more harm than good? What should you say about God, heaven or prayer? How specific should you be about what they are experiencing physically or what they want medically? Author Patrick Shawn Riecke answers these questions, after twenty years of helping the sick, dying and grieving. You will encounter the best ways to talk with people in what he calls Phase Three--life's most difficult moments. Riecke has not only helped countless people personally as a hospital chaplain and pastor, but also leads a team of chaplains doing this work daily, and gives regular seminars helping others know how to talk with Sick, Dying and Grieving People. With references along the way from Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, Father Richard Rohr, recent research, ancient literature, personal anecdotes, and three customized case studies developed specifically for this volume, you will find a complete handling of this topic. However, you will not find a technical handbook--but rather a page turning easy to read book that sometimes feels more like a novel or memoir than non-fiction. The rich and breathtaking stories will help you unfold your full potential to really help people in Phase Three. You want so badly to help. Click to purchase either the Kindle or Paperback version today so you can confidently Talk with Sick, Dying and Grieving People in a way that is certain to help. Included in this volume: Compelling stories of ultimate suffering and overwhelming significance Must-do actions for those who want to help Traps to avoid so you can be successful at making a difference Three case studies of hurting people and how to help His Three Phases of Spiritual Growth Practical tips for leaders who care about people in grief, trauma or crisis Five Help Sheets full of practical tips A postscript from the author on his own experience of Baby Death Are you ready to really help? Buy this book today to start making a difference.

Rev. ed. of: Handbook for mortals / Joanne Lynn, Joan Harrold, and the Center to Improve Care of the Dying, George Washington University. 1999.

When a parent dies, most adults are seized by an unexpected crisis that can trigger a profound transformation. Using in-depth interviews and national surveys, Dr Umberson explains why the death of a parent has strong effects on adults and looks at protective factors that help some individuals experience better mental health following the death than they did when the parent was alive. This is the first book to rely on sound scientific method to document the significant adverse effects of parental death for adults in a national population. Exploring the social and psychological risk factors that make some people more vulnerable than others, readers will come to view the loss of a parent in a new way: as a turning point in adult development.

We live in an increasingly "virtual" world in which it can be tempting to skip making that true, human connection with someone in pain. Even though our thoughts might be with them, we lack the confidence to reach out, worrying that we will say or do the "wrong" thing. In this practical, step-by-step guide to what she calls "the art of comforting," Val Walker draws on numerous interviews with "Master Comforters" to guide readers in gently and gracefully breaking through the walls that those who are suffering often erect around themselves. Interviewees include inspiring individuals such as Alicia Rasin, who, as a victim's advocate for the city of Richmond, Virginia, has devoted her life to comforting grieving families devastated by homicide, gang violence, and other traumatic experiences; or Patricia Ellen, who, as a grief counselor and outreach director at the Center for Grieving Children in Portland, Maine, appears on site to support and comfort children, staff, and parents when a school is facing a death, violence, or other crises. All of us will, at one time or the other, be called upon to offer warmth and support to another human being who is suffering-this book will show you how to answer the call with an open heart.

JULIA SAMUEL'S LATEST BOOK, EVERY FAMILY HAS A STORY, IS AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW 'One of the most valuable books I've ever read' Adwoa Aboah ______________________________________________________________________________________ If change is the natural order of things, why do we struggle with the huge milestones in our lives? At a time when even the most certain things feel disrupted, acclaimed psychotherapist Julia Samuel provides an antidote to the chaos we are all feeling. In this Sunday Times bestseller, Julia draws on hours of conversations with her patients to show how we can learn to adapt and even thrive during our most difficult and transformative experiences. From a new mother struggling with the decision to return to work, to a father handling a serious medical diagnosis, from a woman deciding whether to leave her husband for a younger lover, to a man struggling to repair his marriage after the trauma of suffering with COVID-19 in the ICU, this book unflinchingly deals with the hard times in family, love, work, health and identity. Illuminated by the latest social and psychological research, these 19 powerful, unforgettable and deeply intimate stories about everyday people will inform our understanding of our own unique response to change and improve the way we approach challenges at every stage of life. ______________________________________________________________________________________ 'Examines the power that comes from dealing effectively with change' Elizabeth Day

From Ira Byock, prominent palliative care physician and expert in end of life decisions, a lesson in Dying Well. Nobody should have to die in pain. Nobody should have to die alone. This is Ira Byock's dream, and he is dedicating his life to making it come true. Dying Well brings us to the homes and bedsides of families with whom Dr. Byock has worked, telling stories of love and reconciliation in the face of tragedy, pain, medical drama, and conflict. Through the true stories of patients, he shows us that a lot of important emotional work can be accomplished in the final months, weeks, and even days of life. It is a companion for families, showing them how to deal with doctors, how to talk to loved ones—and how to make the end of life as meaningful and enriching as the beginning. Ira Byock is also the author of The Best Care Possible: A Physician's Quest to Transform Care Through the End of Life.

First published in 1996. This new book gives voice to an emerging consensus among bereavement scholars that our understanding of the grief process needs to be expanded. The dominant 20th century model holds that the function of grief and mourning is to cut bonds with the deceased, thereby freeing the survivor to reinvest in new relationships in the present. Pathological grief has been defined in terms of holding on to the deceased. Close examination reveals that this model is based more on the cultural values of modernity than on any substantial data of what people actually do. Presenting data from several populations, 22 authors - among the most respected in their fields - demonstrate that the health resolution of grief enables one to maintain a continuing bond with the deceased. Despite cultural disapproval and lack of validation by professionals, survivors find places for the dead in their on-going lives and even in their communities. Such bonds are not denial: the deceased can provide resources for enriched functioning in the present. Chapters examine widows and widowers, bereaved children, parents and siblings, and a population previously excluded from bereavement research: adoptees and their birth parents. Bereavement in Japanese culture is also discussed, as are meanings and implications of this new model of grief. Opening new areas of research and scholarly dialogue, this work provides the basis for significant developments in clinical practice in the field.