Grief Recovery Handbook, the (Revised): A Program for Moving Beyond Death, Divorce, and Other Devastating Losses

by Russell Friedman and John W. James

Book Overview

Updated to commemorate its 20th anniversary, this classic resource further explores the effects of grief and sheds new light on how to begin to take effective actions to complete the grieving process and work towards recovery and happiness. Incomplete recovery from grief can have a lifelong negative effect on the capacity for happiness. Drawing from their own histories as well as from others', the authors illustrate how it is possible to recover from...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060952733
• ISBN13: 9780060952730
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

This Book Saved My Sister's Life

I first found this book almost 2 years ago. At the time I was looking for something to help my sister who had endured 13 major losses in less than 5 years and was in the depths of hell. She was barely able to get herself dressed every day and was so devestated she was not able to work because she couldn't stop crying. I picked this book up just hoping it held a "gem" of knowledge that I could use to help her. I was so blown away by the book that I asked her if she'd go to a workshop (she couldn't concentrate well enough to read the book). She agreed to go (she would have done anything to get rid of the pain). I put her on a plane to the next available workshop. Four days later she walked out of the workshop with a song in her heart and wings on her feet. She came home and enrolled in college full time and found 2 part-time jobs that worked around her college classes. I sent another sister to a workshop earlier this year. They are both happier than they've ever been in their lives and they tell me how peaceful they feel. They look forward to each new day with joy. I recently attended a workshop and have just been certified to begin an Outreach Program. Because of this book, many of my family members will know what to do whenever a loss occurs. For those people who can concentrate enough to read, this book may be what they need. But if they need more, please encourage them to find a Grief Recovery Outreach Program in their area. The Grief Recovery Institute's website is www.grief.net and they are very helpful to griever's who call them. Thank you John James and Russell Friedman for all the work you do to share your knowledge with grievers.

Feels like a miracle

For more than a year after my father died, I felt as if I was going in slow motion, while the world raced past me. Time didn't seem to have done anything to heal me, in fact I was feeling worse. My friends tried to talk to me and help me, but I couldn't hear anything other than my own despair. One of my dear friends, in desperation, gave me a copy of The Grief Recovery Handbook. That simple act of kindness changed my life. In the solitude of my own home, without having to try to feel good so others would think I was okay, I began to read the book. Almost against my own will, I began to take the actions and do the exercises outlined in the book. One of the hardest parts about them, was that they were too easy. I began to realize how much I had been complicating the possibility of recovery by trying to use my head to fix my heart. As the direct result of creating an accurate picture of my entire relationship with my father, and completing what had been unsaid or unfinished, I regained the gratitude I felt toward life, and the energy with which to live it. While I have normal sadness and miss my dad from time to time, I am able to sustain a life of meaning and value, even though he is no longer physically here. What happened for me feels like a miracle, but in reality is the result of the safety and encouragement to take action provided by The Grief Recovery Handbook. I am eternally grateful.

This book gave me back my life!

Essential for anyone who is experiencing grief, whether from arecent loss or one many years ago. Shows one how to complete theprocess and begin enjoying life anew. I can't recommend it highly enough. Please try it if you are "locked in limbo" and unable to experience real joy in your life.

Practical gentle guide to heal a broken heart

This book and these men have helped thousands of people heal wounds I never thought could be healed. The put a stop to the adage "time heals" by reminding us that time just passes and it's our action that heals. There is a way to get rid of the PAIN of a loss. I'm living proof.

Saved my life by opening my eyes to the world again.

Exceptionally well-written book which helped me through a most difficult time in my life. This book is an incredible gift to someone who is grieving. The authors share their most intimate griefs, thoughts, and outcomes with the reader. The book is easy to read. Could not put it down until I had finished it. I have shared this book with many of my friends and relatives who were experiencing loss and grief in their lives. They, too, have benefited by the wealth of information provided in this book about loss in our lives. The book leaves a reader with a sense of understanding about what and how we grieve. I now carry with me one of the most eye-opening thoughts from this book which is: "we are taught all our lives how to acquire, but never to grieve". How true this is. Once we learn how to go through the process, we can then open our eyes to the world again.