Sooner or later each one of us faces death, our own or others we care about. And yet, few take time beforehand to think about these endings, and in the process may lose the wisdom of the ages that comes after facing death. Perhaps this explains why when Plato was asked to summarize his philosophy he reportedly said: Practice dying. He understood that dying is what each one of us does throughout our lives, whether it is leaving home the first time to go to school or departing from this planet when our lives end. If we learn how to die--to let go and get our egos out of the way--we will have gained wisdom about how best to live. This brief yet comprehensive book deals not only with the philosophical and psychological meaning of death but its practical implications for our lives. Written by two brothers who have taught philosophy, ethics, psychology, and religion at community colleges and four-year private colleges, this book can be used in many learning situations, whether part of courses in philosophy, ethics, psychology, or counseling; or for short-term workshops or continuing education courses for students in human services, health care, social work, or any of the helping professions.

In this extensively updated and revised edition, Dr. Kastenbaum continues to examine and expand upon issues of dying and the ways in which we shape and reshape our conceptions of death. New to the Third Edition are chapters on how we construct death; Death in adolescence and adulthood including discussion on suicide, physician assisted death and Regret Theory and Denial; new approaches to the role of death anxiety, Terror Management Theory, and Edge Theory, and much more. A major contribution to the literature -- this book is must reading for professionals and students of psychology, thanatology, gerontology, social work, and those working in hospice care.

Textbook for Death & Dying courses in psych, soc, soc work, nursing, development, and counseling depts.

Practical and inspiring, this best-selling book helps students learn to cope with encounters with death, dying, and bereavement. The authors integrate classical and contemporary material, present task-based approaches for individual and family coping, and include four substantial chapters devoted to death-related issues faced by children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly. The text discusses a variety of cultural and religious perspectives that affect people’s understandings and practices associated with such encounters. The book also offers practical guidelines for constructive communication designed to encourage productive living in the face of death. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

This work provides an up-to-date examination of the ways people face dying and bereavement. In this third edition previous chapters are throrughly revised, and new contributors expand areas that have changed significantly. Reflecting the field's complex interdisciplinary character, the chapters cover such diverse areas as psychology, nursing, medicine, AIDS, family studies, sociology, education, philosophy, law, religion, the humanities and political science, whilst highlighting thanatology's core psychological and therapeutic caregiving dimensions. First, the text offers broad examinations of death systems from the vantage points of various cultural, historical and disciplinary perspectives. The second section represents the core of the book, offering detailed surveys of the "data" of death, dying and bereavement as they relate to different phases of our encounter with death as an abstract possibility and concrete reality. Next are chapters addressing a cluster of death-related issues and challenges that confront us at both a societal and individual level - such as AIDS - and finally the volume closes with a few reflections on the complexity of contemporary thanatology, framing some issues and recommendations that deserve greater attention by scholars, researchers, policy makers and practitioners. Also included is a comprehensive resource bibliography on the topic. This text is intended to be of use as a resource for all those interested in reading about death studies, both professionals and students alike.

This book provides an insightful and concise approach to the psychosocial process of death and bereavement.