Life After Grief

At one time or another we all will all experience loss and grief.  It may be the death of someone close, a divorce, the loss of a job, a miscarriage, a chronic illness, an injury, or any number of traumatic events.

Life After Grief offers an understanding of the experience of loss and grief, and lays out pathways of healing for those who are hurting, and advice for those trying to help those who mourn.

The book address questions like:

• • What is happening to me?
• • Why is this happening to me?
• • How long will this take?
• • Where is God in all this?
• • What can I do to help myself?
• • How can I turn from being a victim to becoming a survivor?

Getting through grief is not just about answering questions, however. Those who grieve need ways to cope, ways to hold on, ways to know they are not alone. And they need ways to find the comforting presence of God. The book also deals with the severe forms of loss we call trauma.

Life After Grief also offers practical ways to move through the process of grieving, like:

• • Tension-reducing strategies.
• • Strategies for staying present-focussed.
• • Strategies for changing troublesome thoughts.

Life After Grief not only offers a lifeline for those who mourn, but also provides an understanding of the dynamics of grief to friends and family helping the person dealing with loss.

Mel Lawrenz (Ph.D., Marquette University) is minister at large for Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, WI, and director of The Brook Network (www.thebrooknetwork.org).