Understanding Your Grieving Heart After a Loved One’s Death
Many books touch upon the subject of grief, but none so comprehensively as this work by Mary Mac. As Editor of the award-winning National Directory of Bereavement Support Groups and Services, she reviewed hundreds of bereavement books from other publishers who wished to gain entry into the directory’s bibliography section. Through this task, she saw very clearly what was missing – one book on bereavement which would serve all grieving individuals at the onset of their journey.
Understanding Your Grieving Heart is a loving, informative guide which walks you through the various challenges you may encounter so you will not be so overwhelmed when you have many of these experiences. And it is written by a woman who has been involved in the bereavement field for over 25 years and has personally experienced great tragedy as well.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Myths Behind the Grieving Process
2. Stages of Grief
3. Manifestations of Grief
a. Emotional Challenges
b. Physical Challenges
c. Social Challenges
d. Intellectual Challenges
e. Spiritual Challenges
f. Financial Challenges
4. Effects of Grief on Marriage
5. Effects of Grief on Children
6. Relationships with Family, Friends, and Business Colleagues
7. Holidays, Anniversaries, and Special Occasions
8. Honoring Your Loved One
9. A Final Note
10. Where to Find Help: Organizations for Those Grieving A Loved One’s Death (a comprehensive list of national bereavement organizations)
11. Selected Bibliography (over 175 books on the grieving process, all reviewed by the author and categorized by need)
12. Index
128 pages – December, 2001; Second Edition – November, 2010
ISBN: 0-9645608-4-4
PRAISE FOR UNDERSTANDING YOUR GRIEVING HEART
“After debunking myths about the grieving process, e.g. that it lasts only a few months, Mary M. McCambridge (editor, The National Directory of Bereavement Support Groups and Services) traces the stages of grief (shock, denial, despair, renewal), manifestations (e.g. regrets, depression, anger, workaholism) and effects on marriage, children, friendship and work relationships in Understanding Your Grieving Heart After a Loved One’s Death. Even if we’ve seen others mourn a loss, says Mary, we may be taken by surprise at our responses to the death of an intimate, particularly the sense of being out of control that often accompanies bereavement. Grieving readers will appreciate this warm, wise guide by an experienced bereavement counselor and crime victims’ rights advocate.”
Publisher’s Weekly, November 26, 2001
“Understanding Your Grieving Heart After a Loved One’s Death is an invaluable guidebook on how to offer comfort to the bereaved. Mary touches on every aspect of the aftermath of loss, from dispelling myths surrounding the grieving process to how to deal with anger and stress, to how to handle the belongings of a lost loved one and how to help one’s children through the grieving process. McCambridge has also reviewed over 175 other books on the grieving process and categorized them by need in this clear, simple, helpful, and solace-filled reference. Understanding Your Grieving Heart After a Loved One’s Death is very highly recommended for personal, professional, and community library and grief counseling collections.”
Midwest Book Review, December, 2001
“Very well done – informative, supportive. I highly recommend this book to all survivors and especially to those dedicated professionals in this field.”
M. Regina Asaro, M.S., R.N. Psychiatric Nurse/Consultant Co-Facilitator – Homicide Support Groups and Co-Author of The Military Widow
“When we lose a loved one, we are in a wave of confusion and find it hard to deal with the new me – the person who has been changed unlike ever before because of death. We daily face new emotions, new kinks in our relationships and old myths that need to be discarded. How do we do it all? Author and Counselor, Mary M. McCambridge, shows us how to understand what is happening to our lives in our raw bereavement in her newest book, Understanding Your Grieving Heart After a Loved One’s Death. This book is a practical guide to living life after the unthinkable death of a loved one has happened to us. Mary has the gift to hold our hand and tenderly show us how.”
Alice J. Wisler, Editor Tributes E-Zine Book Review, April, 2002
“This sensitive, yet practical book goes some way to answering the many agonising questions posed by the bereft and suggests many strategies that may bring comfort during the grieving process. Mary is an American bereavement specialist who has written several books on the many aspects of death and loss. She is quick to point out the ‘uniqueness’ of grief to each individual so affected and stresses that there is no normal time span and no set time frame for recovery.
She goes into the well-documented stages of grief – shock, denial, despair, renewal, etc. – with great insight and compassion, yet always bringing some positive ideas to help during these stages. The chapter on children’s grief is especially illuminating, as is the section dealing with those agonising anniversaries of Christmas, Birthdays, etc. She discusses the effects of grief on marriage and also how financial worries need to be addressed during mourning.
Mary ventures into the spiritual area of sorrow and speaks most movingly of how we try to make “bargains” with God. This book has a comprehensive section on where to find help, which refers to the USA. However, I feel that similar institutions do exist in the UK and the book list is also very extensive. In conclusion, I feel that this is a useful and thoughtful book with a great deal of genuine understanding of grief and much compassion for those who grieve.”
E.B. Daniels The Compassionate Friends/United Kingdom
From Barnes and Noble
Nothing better
I saw the name of this book in an advertisement in the WestSide Spirit, a weekly newspaper in Manhattan some months ago. It was at the time when the World Trade Center site was still being cleared. For many of us forever changed by that day, I hadn’t allowed myself to grieve yet because I was still waiting for my friend’s body. But it never came. I ordered this at the Barnes and Noble by me and it has helped me tremendously. It really gives a great overall understanding of what I’m going through and might go through in the future. This author talks like your the only one she wrote this book for. Plus in the back is a list of groups and books when I’m ready. What makes this so special, better than the others I received, was it really spoke to me personally and made me feel I wasn’t going insane.
Superior above many
After Christmas last year and all the family went back to their homes, I was left with many books on this topic as gifts. I didn’t open any of them until just last week when I couldn’t sleep in the middle of the night and this time needed answers. This book helped me the most. The others talked about divorce and losing a job and when you’re dealing with this, those types of losses seem so trivial. I almost resented that they were in the books. This one is only about helping you after your loved one’s died and I liked it so much because it spoke only to my situation. Tip: next time you buy a book for someone in my shoes, get this one.
Walks the Walk, Talks the Talk
This book helped me so much to understand what I’m feeling now and what could be up ahead. I took a whole bunch out at the library and many were written by professors and Ph.d.s and those with a string of initials (don’t know what they stand for anyway) after their name. And their books turned out to be like a textbook telling you about every type of grief imaginable. It was just too much. Mary lived it and was willing to help us who grieve now. I’ll take experience over a long list of initials anyday. Survivors are the people who know what’s really going on in your heart and in your life. She was a blessing to me.
From Amazon.com
Excellent Grieving Help Book
I bought this book for a young friend who had just lost her father to lung cancer. She was having so much difficulty watching him suffer for 5 years trying to beat the cancer. I sent this book to her asking her to read it to give her a better understanding of the grieving process and to help her process all of the multiple emotions she was experiencing. The author writes this book with much love and understanding and in basis language that everyone can understand. This one book has been shared with 3 other people in the family who have been comforted greatly from it’s message. Please buy this book and share it with all those who have a grieving heart or are living with someone with a grieving heart. It will truly be a blessing to all of them.
Leona Hardy, VA
Formats:
1. Print Version – order now through Barnes and Noble
2. EBook – available in pdf format for immediate download to your computer. Click the “Buy Now” button below to purchase this program.
3. Kindle Version from Amazon.com – available for immediate download to your ebook reader
