Companion To Grief Finding Consolation When Someone You Love Has Died: finding consolation when someone you love has died

The Story

In Companion to Grief, hospice nurse and grief counselor Patricia Kelley provides a wise and supportive guide for both those who are grieving and those trying to help them. Based on a series of letters she wrote to her recently widowed brother-in-law, Companion to Grief will help readers to better understand their reactions to the loss of a loved one as a necessary part of the healing process. Grieving is a journey toward healing the pain that is caused by our loss, says Kelley. Though each person experiences this journey a bit differently, the grieving process can be generally defined by three stages: disbelief, pain, healing. First we struggle with our knowledge of the death, then we go through the pain of grief, and finally we learn to continue living. Using anecdotes from her professional and personal experience, Kelley describes what readers can expect at every stage and how the stages overlap, and dispels myths about grieving. She discusses special circumstances such as dealing with grief in the workplace, and grieving and children; and offers practical advice for coping with well-intentioned but perhaps less-than-helpful friends and family. She also addresses the more difficult aspects of grieving for someone for whom we harbor conflicted feelings, and how to cope with seemingly contradictory feelings of sadness, anger, relief, guilt, and loss.