We don't only experience grief after a loss—we often experience it before. If someone we love is seriously ill, or if we're concerned about upcoming hardships of any kind, we naturally begin to grieve right now. This process of anticipatory grief is normal, but it can also be confusing and painful. Life is change, and change is hard. This book will help see you through.

We grieve after the death of a loved one, but what about before? Yes, it is true. We do. The soul cries, "This should not be," at the first sign death will come to what we treasure. The grief is so common, it has an official name. Anticipatory grief. How does one learn to live in the ongoing tension between hope for life and compounding little losses? Tracy K Pratt introduces us to the uniqueness, normalcy, and significance of grief before death. She shows why the uninvited companion is trustworthy and how it leads to God, the Grace-Giver. His intimacy with human grief is our hope. His lack of rescue of our treasure is not judgment or condemnation. He has traveled this road before us. Tracy shows how we can discover His gifts of grace in our personal journeys through the autumn of loss.

The loss of a loved one is one of the most painful experiences that most of us will ever have to face in our lives. This book recognises that there is no single solution to the problems of bereavement but that an understanding of grief can help the bereaved to realise that they are not alone in their experience. Long recognised as the most authoritative work of its kind, this new edition has been revised and extended to take into account recent research findings on both sides of the Atlantic. Parkes and Prigerson include additional information about the different circumstances of bereavement including traumatic losses, disasters, and complicated grief, as well as providing details on how social, religious, and cultural influences determine how we grieve. Bereavement provides guidance on preparing for the loss of a loved one, and coping after they have gone. It also discusses how to identify the minority in whom bereavement may lead to impairment of physical and/or mental health and how to ensure they get the help they need. This classic text will continue to be of value to the bereaved themselves, as well as the professionals and friends who seek to help and understand them.

Dr. Therese Rando is joined by 17 contributing authors to present the most comprehensive resource available on the perspectives, issues, interventions, and changing views associated with anticipatory mourning. Content Highlights Introduction Part I Knowledge and Theory -- A Review and Critique of the Literature; The Six Dimensions of Anticipatory Mourning; Re-Creating Meaning in the Face of Illness; The Transition to Loving in Absence; The Transition of Fading Away; On the Experience of Traumatic Stress; Coping with Dying: Similarities, Differences, and Suggested Guidelines for Helpers; Denial and the Limits of Anticipatory Mourning; Towards an Appropriate Death Part II Anticipatory Mourning from Different Perspectives -- Grief in Dying Persons; Promoting Healthy Anticipatory Mourning in Intimates of the Life-Threatened or Dying Person; Challenges for Professional and Volunteer Caregivers Part III Specific and Applied Cases -- Anticipatory Mourning and Prenatal Diagnosis; Dealing with Chronic/Terminal Illness or Disability of a Child; Anticipatory Mourning in HIV/ AIDS; Mourning Psychosocial Loss: Alzheimers, ALS, and Irreversible Coma; Advance Directives; Organ Donation; The Human-Animal Bond

Explores the feeling of loss before a death or dreaded event occurs, otherwise known as anticipatory grief or early grief.

Ten years after the death of Elisabeth K bler-Ross, this commemorative edition of her final book combines practical wisdom, case studies, and the authors' own experiences and spiritual insight to explain how the process of grieving helps us live with loss. Includes a new introduction and resources section. Elisabeth K bler-Ross's On Death and Dying changed the way we talk about the end of life. Before her own death in 2004, she and David Kessler completed On Grief and Grieving, which looks at the way we experience the process of grief. Just as On Death and Dying taught us the five stages of death--denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance--On Grief and Grieving applies these stages to the grieving process and weaves together theory, inspiration, and practical advice, including sections on sadness, hauntings, dreams, isolation, and healing. This is "a fitting finale and tribute to the acknowledged expert on end-of-life matters" (Good Housekeeping).