Although losing someone you love to a sudden or violent death is a shocking experience, there are steps you can take to heal. This book provides compassionate support and creative ways to soothe and transform your emotions with powerful, but simple strategies that: - Promote healing and calm feelings of anxiety, anger, or despair - Alleviate nightmares, intrusive images, and ruminating thoughts - Relieve guilt and regrets so you can open up to new experiences in your life - Help you get the kind of support you want from other people - Retain "the living story" of your loved one and sense them as a positive presence in your life Recent reviews: "Courtney Armstrong's Transforming Traumatic Grief provides practical tools to comfort grievers, promotes resilience and hope for those who have been devastated by tragedy and loss, and shows ways to create renewed meaning in life beyond grief and trauma." - Bill O'Hanlon, author of Thriving Through Crisis and Quick Steps to Resolving Trauma "Unlike other books detailing therapies that work at the cognitive level of the mind, "Transforming Traumatic Grief" is a how-to book of practical (and even more importantly) attainable activities and proven strategies for those dealing with grief and loss. As a therapist specializing in trauma counseling and her own personal experience with loss, Armstrong builds a strong case for why we need to speak to the emotional brain in a language it understands. Unless we do, she argues, the traumatized and grief-stricken simply can't experience a shift in how they're feeling. Written in a voice that emanates from a very personal place, Armstrong's book is both comforting and empowering. It's for anyone having difficulty moving through grief or growing from their traumatic experience. It's also for therapists who want to help their patients help themselves in between appointments or post-therapy." Nancy Gerhsman, www.artforyoursake.com "A must-read! An indispensable guide for transforming traumatic grief into healing reconnection." - Jon Connelly, Ph.D, LCSW, Founder, Institute for Rapid Resolution Therapy

Facing the loss of someone or something we love can be overwhelming. Yet grief is a natural and universal process for healing from life’s painful events. Transforming Grief offers insights to help us tap our innate resiliency, courage, and compassion, along with practical ways to honor and work through our grief. Join social anthropologist and award-winning author Dr. Marilyn Schlitz to learn more about: • Building new responses to fear and discomfort • Reconsidering the five phases of grief • Acknowledging the time and work involved in grieving • Three grief practices: Walking the Labyrinth, Laughter Yoga, and Communion with the Dead • Fostering connection to both the living and the deceased through shared grief practices “We tend to define our grief by what we no longer have, rather than by what the departed loved one has given us,” writes Marilyn Schlitz. “Healing may come when we allow ourselves to risk again, to continue growing, and to invite transformation.” For anyone seeking guidance on the challenging journey through loss, Transforming Grief will be an inspirational companion for each step on the path. Note: Excerpted from Death Makes Life Possible by Marilyn Schlitz.

Explaining the important difference between grief and mourning, this book explores every mourner's need to acknowledge death and embrace the pain of loss. Also explored are the many factors that make each person's grief unique and the many normal thoughts and feelings mourners might have. Questions of spirituality and religion are addressed as well. The rights of mourners to be compassionate with themselves, to lean on others for help, and to trust in their ability to heal are upheld. Journaling sections encourage mourners to articulate their unique thoughts and feelings.

To tell you how to use this workbook would be like giving you instructions on how to grieve. Impossible. The only thing we know for sure is that no two people will approach this work in the same way. If there's one thing you should remember as you begin this process, it is this: You are not alone. With that knowledge, you've already begun to heal. --from A Mother Loss Workbook Inspired by Hope Edelman's bestselling Motherless Daughters, authors Diane Hambrook and Gail Eisenberg have created a sensitive,m accessible workbook for women suffering the wounds of early mother loss. A Mother Loss Workbook is designed to help the ,motherless daughter tell the story she needs to tell--her story. Its varied exercises, open-ended questions, writing topics, and activities, drawn from Hambrook's years of work with motherless daughters, provide both careful direction and generous room for self-expression. This book is a safe place where no one will judge a woman, where the work she must do can be done in her own time, at her own pace, and at any stage of mourning. A Mother Loss Workbook is an ideal supplement for personal therapy and support groups, but it is an important--and perhaps the only--tool for women just starting their journey or who are hesitant to go public with their feelings. Whether a woman uses it privately or shares it with a group, no matter how long its been since her mother died, A Mother Loss Workbook will guide her toward fully understanding her loss and taking charge of her future.

It is often said that that one never completely recovers from the loss of a loved one and the shock of bereavement leaves an indelible scar on one's soul that remains forever. Despite this, most bereaved people do return to living productive and meaningful lives, understanding that such pain is unavoidable and part of the human experience. However, in some cases the negative feelings and emotions do not subside over time and what psychologists refer to as "complicated grief" takes hold. This is a serious and debilitating condition that can take a toll on emotional and physical well-being. The good news is that, with appropriate help and support, even sufferers of complicated grief can transform their lives. This workbook is an essential part of the method known as "Love Knows No Death," an innovative approach to grief transformation. This counseling approach, which integrates both written and video lessons, reflects an "unbelievable truth" that the human mind, consciousness and personality do not end with the death of the physical body. In other words, your deceased love one is not, in fact, deceased. As one progresses through the workbook it becomes apparent that there is no religious agenda. The reality that we survive death is based upon established evidence and not blind faith, and the reader is encouraged to do their own reading, learning and thinking. The entire approach is based upon education and not preaching. This innovative approach to grief transformation is based upon established techniques of cognitive therapy. In other words, "The way you feel depends entirely on the way you think." When we learn to think "non-negatively" and replace negative, unrealistic and distorted thoughts with more balanced, neutral and realistic ones, dramatic results can be attained. The chapters and videos in this approach will take readers on a journey of exploration as they examine possible stumbling blocks, what really dies at death, and learn about the substantial evidence for life after life. Some of the phenomena examined include the powers of the mind, deathbed visions, near death experiences, apparitions, mediumship and instrumental trans-communication. Mental health professionals are coming to realize that patients who believe that their deceased loved ones still survive do better than those who do not believe in survival. The "Love Knows No Death" approach recognizes that vague hope or wishful thinking does not have the power to transform grief. Such transformation can only come from "knowing," which can be attained only through personal experiences, thorough examination of the evidence, and changing the way we think. Those who put the effort into diligently following this workbook may very well experience life changing effects. The "afterlife perspective," once integrated into the grieving process, will allow you to lead a better life and truly honor those who have passed before you.

Restore Your Body, Mind, and Spirit with this Award-Winning Workbook Are you suffering from a heartbreaking loss? In your grief are you experiencing yearning, longing, disbelief, extreme sadness, confusion, numbness, overwhelm, exhaustion, insomnia, anger, inability to focus, agitation, or anxiety? Do you feel you have lost a part of yourself? After working with hundreds of grieving clients over the course of twenty years, Licensed Counselor, Marilyn Willis developed this proven step by step process to help you navigate through a heartbreaking loss to the restoration of your life. This workbook is beneficial for survivors of loss, and those who desire to provide comfort. Discover how to: -Understand what leads to healing through examining resilient survivors -Reestablish order in your heart, mind, and days -Develop resilient building self-care techniques -Clarify and release difficult feelings through guided journaling -Overcome your unique challenges to healing with simple exercises -Smile again at sweet memories as you find space to share about your loved one -Cultivate peace as you apply grief healing rituals -Reflect and gently engage with your new beginning -Create a plan and prepare for grief triggers such as holidays and anniversaries -Discover how to gain meaning from your loss -Rebuild purpose for the days ahead Find restoration for your physical functioning, mental clarity, emotional stability, interest in people and activities, and purpose for your future. Every grief journey starts with a first step. Marilyn Willis took her first step at fifteen years old after her mother died from cancer. Are you ready to take your first step toward restoration? Order your copy today. Available in Kindle and paperback. 🥇GOLD MEDAL WINNER Grief / Hardship Category by Readers Favorite FINALIST Health: Death & Dying Category by 2020 Best Book Awards 🥉BRONZE MEDAL WINNER Grieving / Death Dying Category by LivingNow Book Awards ENDORSED by Grief Experts and Community Leaders: ★★★★★ "An excellent resource to rely on over and over as one moves through grief...offers a brilliant framework to assist the mourner in a step by step process to the restoration of body, mind, and spirit." -Susie Kuszmar, LMFT, Creator and Director of nationally awarded FOOTSTEPS Hospital Bereavement program ★★★★★ "Being a mother who lost her son to cancer, and has been through grief counseling and grief groups, this particular grief workbook goes deeper into the pit of emotional and spiritual pain and shines a bright light on the path-way out of that dark place."- Lacene Downing, former Manager of international funeral services company and grief group facilitator ★★★★★ "It brings the grief group experience, that so many in our hospice and community have benefited from, directly to your home and heart." - Mary Wall, RNC, the President of the Board for Kauai Hospice ★★★★★ "I have been touched and educated by this #1 new release on Amazon. I highly recommend this workbook to anyone who has experienced a loss."- Mark Whitacre, Ph.D., Executive Director Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. ★★★★★ "What a masterpiece... thorough, practical, tender, and personal! There is so much honoring of the deceased in the healing process. This could be used privately, but also it would be powerful to walk through with either a counselor or small group."- Leah Green, Navigators Marriage Getaway Co-Director

In this groundbreaking and “poignant” (Los Angeles Times) book, David Kessler—praised for his work by Maria Shriver, Marianne Williamson, and Mother Teresa—journeys beyond the classic five stages to discover a sixth stage: meaning. In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross first identified the stages of dying in her transformative book On Death and Dying. Decades later, she and David Kessler wrote the classic On Grief and Grieving, introducing the stages of grief with the same transformative pragmatism and compassion. Now, based on hard-earned personal experiences, as well as knowledge and wisdom gained through decades of work with the grieving, Kessler introduces a critical sixth stage: meaning. Kessler’s insight is both professional and intensely personal. His journey with grief began when, as a child, he witnessed a mass shooting at the same time his mother was dying. For most of his life, Kessler taught physicians, nurses, counselors, police, and first responders about end of life, trauma, and grief, as well as leading talks and retreats for those experiencing grief. Despite his knowledge, his life was upended by the sudden death of his twenty-one-year-old son. How does the grief expert handle such a tragic loss? He knew he had to find a way through this unexpected, devastating loss, a way that would honor his son. That, ultimately, was the sixth stage of grief—meaning. In Finding Meaning, Kessler shares the insights, collective wisdom, and powerful tools that will help those experiencing loss. “Beautiful, tender, and wise” (Katy Butler, author of The Art of Dying Well), Finding Meaning is “an excellent addition to grief literature that helps pave the way for steps toward healing” (School Library Journal).

Superhero Grief uses modern superhero narratives to teach the principles of grief theories and concepts and provide practical ideas for promoting healing. Chapters offer clinical strategies, approaches, and interventions, including strategies based in expressive arts and complementary therapies. Leading researchers, clinicians, and professionals address major topics in death, dying, and bereavement, using superhero narratives to explore loss in the context of bereavement and to promote a contextual view of issues and relationship types that can improve coping skills. This volume provides support and psychoeducation to students, clinicians, educators, researchers, and the bereaved while contributing significantly to the literature on the intersection of death, grief, and trauma.

A resource for therapists, counselors, group facilitators, and other professionals working to help grieving people heal from their losses. The handouts guide clients through stages of shock, disorganization, reorganization, and a New Normal, a term to convey that everyones grief has a unique expression and is that particular persons "normal." Clients are encouraged to deal with sorrow, express feelilngs, share with peers, develop internal and external support systems, accept, adjust, and move forward. The book helps leaders understand and empathize, and teaches participants to heal and grow. Activities facilitate introspection and interaction. The books reproducible handouts and art work "map" the journey from numbness to normal. Instead of using solely with grieving groups, consider using the activitiesw with participants in other groups. The human experience dictates that clients have already experienced, or will face future grief/loss issues.