On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss - Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss

EXCELLENT BOOK. This is essential reading for all of us you have/will lose a loved one - grief is such a personal thing, but this books shows the common demoninators, a book to be read and reread during a time of grieving - cannot recommend highly enough. I have given this book as gifts to grieving friends and they could not believe it when they read in print how they were feeling. In fact this book should be read by everyong on the planet - it will equip us better and help us find the way, not only for ourselves but for whose who may need our support in their dark time of grieving.

Dealing with a difficult human experience with the sensitive touch...

I have read a number of books now by Elisabeth K.R. and this one, rather appropriately, was edited after she passed away by co-author David Kessler.
The book is set out in easy to understand chapters and deals with each of the Five Stages using real-life examples to help clarify each one.
I think this book would be extremely helpful and "a beacon of light" for anybody who is grieving over the loss of a loved one, anybody who is finding it hard to find the right words, or for anybody wanting to expand their emotional person-centred counseling/listening skills, as it not only teaches you the theory, it also teaches you to feel.

Five stars are not enough...

Written in the second person, On Grief And Grieving offers a deeply personal insight into the individual world of grief while reaching out to touch every reader who has ever been bereaved, or struggled for words to offer a friend.
This book addresses both the practical and emotional elements of bereavement, including complicated grieving and taboos. It gives implicit guidance to the professional working with bereavement through its refreshingly un-academic, personal style. Being the final word on the misunderstood Five Stages, it is a crucial textbook for counselling students and volunteers.
EKR and DK share their own pain and support you tenderly through yours. Written as Elisabeth was dying, this book has a special poignant personal involvement from both authors. They explain and accept every thought, emotion and difficulty you may experience, with the loving warmth to support you. They will guide you tenderly through emotions you have not yet named and help you find the healing tears you thought you had already cried. This book is essential reading for all those who have loved and lost.
It should be sold with a box of tissues.

EXCELLENT MUDDLE-THROUGH COMPANION

At times of great grief, when it seems difficult to come up with the right things to say to the grieving, one hopes to run into a companion, a book, anything, that shares the experience of people who have gone through similar experiences before and emerged in one piece. Much to one's dismay, one finds a whole parade of grief counseling peddlers. Garden variety touchy-feely advice. Precious little for people with brain cells in the right places.

That is what makes this Kubler-Ross compilation an absolute treasure of a find. It is intelligent in its narrative of moments one goes through at times of deep sudden loss, and the kinds of things one can do or think to ride the emotional rollercoasters that inevitably ensue. The prose is sane, easy to identity with. There is a rich cornucopia of examples and real life experiences that go to great lengths to cushion the self-doubt one could quite easily feel while indulging in a book on the subject.

I cannot recommend this muddle-through read highly enough. A smart, sensitive companion. Look for the paperback if possible, there is one. As you are reading this review, may I also offer to point out that life's curveballs may appear random at times, with very little explanations offered for unpleasant things one has to live through, but life goes on. You will get through it. Best wishes.