Healing Grief: Reclaiming Life After Any Loss

by James Van Praagh

Book Overview

James Van Praagh's first two books, both New York Times bestsellers, have been a powerful healing force for millions of readers. Using his talents as a medium, Van Praagh has not only helped the bereaved reach their lost loved ones and find peace but he has also illuminated the mysteries of death, the afterlife, and rebirth. His new book, Healing Grief, will once again draw from his compelling and uplifting readings, but with a new and special purpose...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525945407
• ISBN13: 9780525945406
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 286 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

I learned a lot from this book.

I recently lost my mother. She was /is my best friend. I have had a REALLY hard time getting over her passing. This book has given me hope. It's given me some peace. It's through the strength of Jesus Christ that I've been able to get through this horrible time and it's been the lessons in this book that has helped as well.

BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED!

I wish this book had been in print years ago, the first time I had to cope with the loss of a loved one, and was floundering in pain. "Healing Grief" is overflowing with helpful information from simple exercises to help you heal to a special section of the more frequently asked questions. The author says his desire is for the reader to " get back to living your life with an added awareness of loss and grieving". You may find situations very similar to your own challenges. His list of ways to help yourself on pages 263-264, are beautifully crafted to comfort, ease the pain, and move you through moments daily. For example: "carry on your loved one's memory by finishing an activity that he or she started but wasn't able to complete:"and make a list of things that make you laugh. Know that the person who passed would want you to be happy;" and say something nice to a stranger today;" and remember that everyone grieves differently, and some not at all. Each of us is a unique, individualistic creature of God; "and forgive yourself for being upset or angry. The most important thing is to feel. It is okay if someone else doesn't understand your hurt;" and get a little more sleep and look forward to your dreams." James Van Praagh shares his own anguish and recovery from his mother's death, as well as stories of others, and how they handled the healing process. Yes, he attributes the wisdom contained in the book to his "guides, and those on the other side of heaven". This book far surpasses his previous "Talking to Heaven" and "Reaching to Heaven". I gave copies of this book to my five step-daughters who are experiencing the recent loss of their beloved mother. It says what I would like to say; but James Van Praagh says it better. Highly recommended! Wonderful spiritual stories and lessons to help heal the heart. Beneficial to those who need to remember that they are not alone.

Wonderful, healing book

I have read all of Van Praagh's books and have found them all to be extremely timely and beneficial. This book is no exception. Many topics are covered here - and not just grief from the death of a loved one. Van Praagh covers divorce, loss of pets, passages, and grief resulting from destruction.He gently and lovingly guides one through the grief and reminds us once again, that we need to grieve, in our own way and in our own time - eveyone is different. Our society tends to hasten the grief process and does not seem to honor what each and every one of us needs to heal. "We need to accept the loss in order begin the healing process. All grief needs to be felt and realized.""Let your grief become an opportunity for your soul to grow." Van Praagh illustrates that each soul is on a unique path, a unique jouney. When that soul's mission is accomplished, that soul goes "home" to God - yet the soul continues to live on - it is just the physical body which dies.This book will bring immense comfort in the loss of loved one through death, through divorce or even through a relationship ending. We deal with the grief, grow and move on. To NOT deal with the grief, is to stagnate.There are many wonderful illustrations from different readings which Van Praagh has done with family members which have lost a loved one. The love that comes through is just amazing. Love never dies - it is eternal.I found this book extremely beneficial, healing and transforming. I found that there is grief still left in me from losing loved ones that I now need to express. "In order to continue life in any meaningful way, you must allow yourself to grieve."The shock that one goes through when dealing with a loss is not often understood by others, yet one gets condemned for acting stupid or for doing stupid things by others. My compassion level as well as my patience has enabled me to more understanding of my past actions and behaviors by reading this section on the shock effect of grief. My eyes are now opened to a new level of compassion and understanding for myself as well as for others. Thank you.I cannot recommend this book highly enough! The comfort that it has brought me is 10 stars! "Tears clean the windows of the soul. Grieving is a great opportunity to grow, to understand and to explore ourselves."

Embracing Death Means Enjoying Life

The skeptics and fundamentalists can say whatever they want. There is no doubt in my mind that James Van Praagh is a talented medium as well as a sincere, compassionate person. I've read all three of his books and give them all five stars. I don't see any point in doing a review unless I can give it five stars. This books combines very good advice on dealing with grief -- from death, divorce, and other stressful events during our lifetime, but what really made the book for me were the very interesting, intriguing, and inspirational stories he mixed in about grieving people who have had sittings with him. Loved ones on the other side would come through and provide clear-cut, evidential information that helped the grieving ones overcome their grief. Some of them are real tearjerkers. Once a person can overcome his or her fear of death, once that person can embrace death, life becomes more meaningful, less stressful, and much more enjoyable. Thank God for James Van Praagh.

An important book by a great author!

Reading a book by James Van Praagh is like sitting down with your best friend for coffee. He is down to earth yet knowledgeable in addition to being kind and sympathetic. "Healing Grief" is an important book not only for those suffering a recent loss but also for those of us who have not properly grieved a loss from the past. As I read the book, I was immediately taken back to my grief over the loss of a very important relationship in my life. I still grieve this loss after five years because I have not properly dealt with the attending emotions. Going through James' checklists and steps for dealing with grief helped a great deal. I'm better prepared now to deal with loss in the future. I will read this book over and over again and purchase more copies for friends and loved ones when they experience a loss.

Grief is Such a Devastating Emotion

"Healing Grief" is the most important book written so far by James Van Praagh, because grief is such a devastating emotion. We cannot imagine our life without our loved one who has been taken and nothing will bring him or her back. In my homeland, Estonia, at the end of WWII, in the fall of 1944, when the Germans retreated and the Russians advanced toward Berlin, my father, who served in the Red Army, visited with us briefly. He had been mobilized four years before, and we hadn't heard of him in all those years, and now he was with us. The hope that one day we will be all together was revived... Two days passed quickly and he went back to war. Two weeks after he left, we received the official announcement that he was killed in battle. I was 10 years old. I wore my heart on my sleeve and declared my personal war against God. Of course, I never won it, but my anger, bitterness and vulnerability almost ruined my life. And in a materialist society it took decades until the idea of the eternal life of the soul reached my consciousness and started slow but steady healing. Read James Van Praagh's "Healing Grief." This book will teach you not to harm yourself or the soul of your loved one in its transition. Over and over again this book will prove that the soul lives on and one day you will meet your loved one again. "Healing Grief" will remind you that you are not alone, it will help you let your pain and anger go, move on with your life and get in touch with your wisdom -- it is there, in your heart, buried under the pain, its voice can be heard, if you only try... END