Techniques of Grief Therapy is an indispensable guidebook to the most inventive and inspirational interventions in grief and bereavement counseling and therapy. Individually, each technique emphasizes creativity and practicality. As a whole, they capture the richness of practices in the field and the innovative approaches that clinicians in diverse settings have developed, in some cases over decades, to effectively address the needs of the bereaved. New professionals and seasoned clinicians will find dozens of ideas that are ready to implement and are packed with useful features, including: Careful discussion of the therapeutic relationship that provides a "container" for specific procedures An intuitive, thematic organization that makes it easy to find the right technique for a particular situation Detailed explanations of when to use (and when not to use) particular techniques Expert guidance on implementing each technique and tips on avoiding common pitfalls Sample worksheets and activities for use in session and as homework assignments Illustrative case studies and transcripts Recommended readings to learn more about theory, research and practice associated with each technique
New Techniques of Grief Therapy: Bereavement and Beyond expands on the mission of the previous two Techniques books, featuring innovative approaches to address the needs of those whose lives have been shadowed by loss—whether through bereavement, serious illness, the rupture of a relationship, or other complex or intangible losses, such as of an identity-defining career. The book starts with several framing chapters by prominent theorists that provide a big- picture orientation to grief work and follows with a generous toolkit of creative therapeutic techniques described in concrete detail and anchored in illustrative case studies to convey their use in actual practice. New Techniques of Grief Therapy is an indispensable resource for professionals working in hospice, hospital, palliative care, and elder care settings; clinicians in broader health-care and mental health-care practices; executive coaches; and students in the field of grief therapy.
Techniques of Grief Therapy: Assessment and Intervention continues where the acclaimed Techniques of Grief Therapy: Creative Practices for Counseling the Bereaved left off, offering a whole new set of innovative approaches to grief therapy to address the needs of the bereaved. This new volume includes a variety of specific and practical therapeutic techniques, each conveyed in concrete detail and anchored in an illustrative case study. Techniques of Grief Therapy: Assessment and Intervention also features an entire new section on assessment of various challenges in coping with loss, with inclusion of the actual scales and scoring keys to facilitate their use by practitioners and researchers. Providing both an orientation to bereavement work and an indispensable toolkit for counseling survivors of losses of many kinds, this book belongs on the shelf of both experienced clinicians and those just beginning to delve into the field of grief therapy.
Praise for the First Edition: "The book is well-written, interesting, informative, thorough, and useful! As an educator for 43 years, this is the sort of text that I would be pleased to use in my classroom!....I would highly recommend this book! It is an important contribution to the field!"-- Gerry R. Cox , PhD, Illness, Crisis and Loss This core, introductory textbook for undergraduate and graduate-level courses is the first to combine the knowledge and skills of counseling psychology with current theory and research in grief and bereavement. The second edition has been updated to reflect important new research and changes in the field, including insights on complicated grief, resilience after adverse life experiences, and compassion-based approaches to death, loss, and grief. It discusses the implications of the DSM-5ís omission of the bereavement exclusion for the diagnosis of a major depressive disorder. A completely new chapter on the social context of loss addresses social messages, grieving rules, workplace policies, and the disenfranchisement of many aspects of normal, health grief. The text also touches upon some of the therapies that have been developed by major researchers in the field to address complicated grief. New case scenarios further enrich the second edition. The text is grounded in the belief that grief counseling is distinct from other therapeutic issues because it is an adaptive response rather than a form of pathology. It describes the unique aspects of grief as a normal response to losses both death and non-death related, and views the goal of counseling bereaved individuals as one of facilitating the unfolding of the healthy and adaptive aspects of the process as it manifests itself within each client. The book introduces various theories of bereavement and examines different therapeutic modalities that can be used in the context of grief and loss. Specific counseling practices that facilitate successful interventions are discussed, particularly that of "presence," considered by the authors to be the primary therapeutic stance when working with bereaved individuals. The text also addresses grief counseling with special populations, ethical issues, and self-care concerns for counselors. Case studies, discussion and reflection questions, and suggested additional resources are included in each chapter. New to the Second Edition: New insights on complicated grief, DSM categorizations of grief, resilience, and compassion-based approaches to death, loss, and grief A completely new chapter on the social context of loss, including social messaging, grieving rules, and workplace policies New case scenarios Addresses the unique aspects of grief after suicide and homicide Distinguishes grief/complicated grief from depression and trauma New information on the role and use of grief support groups New information on the use of social media and privacy issues Newly developed models of compassion-based response for counselors Application of current neuroscience research to grief counseling Use of technology and online counseling Key Features: Provides research-supported, practical guidance for grief counseling and support Regards grief therapy as a unique form of counseling based on grief as an adaptive response rather than as a form of pathology Written by two internationally recognized leaders in the field Focuses on the importance of ìpresenceî as the most important therapeutic foundation for working with bereaved individuals Includes questions for reflection and glossary of terms
Get the tools to help the grief that comes when a dream dies Every person at one time or another suffers when his or her dreams are shattered. Creative Interventions in Grief and Loss Therapy: When the Music Stops, a Dream Dies provides truly innovative approaches to therapeutically help individuals work through and survive grief and loss. Leading experts explore creative interventions for common, yet emotionally devastating problems faced by those weathering the storms of grief after their dream has been destroyed. Therapists and counselors get the effective tools to creatively help people through the difficulties of dealing with death, addiction, trauma, changes in life circumstances, divorce, heartbreak, miscarriage, co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder (COD), suicide, adoption, and issues with children. The chapters in this innovative volume cite existing research on specific grief and loss issues and illustrate a clinical application for each situation using various creative mediums such as music, writing, or ritual. Each approach can be expanded and modified with care by clinicians of all types to better help clients through the process. This resource is extensively referenced. Topics in Creative Interventions in Grief and Loss Therapy include: how storytelling, journaling, and correspondence can be used to process the experience of a counselor’s loss following the death of their client using psychodrama and the utilization of empty chair techniques to address addiction related grief and loss the use of rituals as an intervention to help clients trauma and loss during times of natural disasters the process of gatekeeping by counselor educators Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) as an approach to help student athletes deal with life after the sport a literary exercise to help clients work toward forgiveness after divorce using books, songs, and projects to assist clients experiencing grief after the death of their adolescent child creative strategies to aid clients through the grief and loss of love effective interventions to assist clients through loss from miscarriage using music, videography, visual arts, literature, drama, play, and altar-making in the grief process innovative interventions for individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder suicide high risk factors—and a Pre-suicide Preparation Plan that mental health practitioners can implement creative intervention for the client who is adopted using super heroes and science fiction therapeutic storytelling for children in grief Creative Interventions in Grief and Loss Therapy: When the Music Stops, a Dream Dies is a creative, reaffirming resource perfect for mental health professionals, therapists, counselors, social workers, educators, and students.
“Dr. Botkin has hit upon a fascinating and powerful new tool that may not only help clients cope with their losses, but also breaks new ground in understanding life and death.” —Bruce Greyson, MD, bestselling author of After “A must read for all serious students of death and dying.”—Raymond Moody, MD, PhD Induced After Death Communication (IADC) is a therapy for grief and trauma that has helped thousands of people come to terms with their loss by allowing them the experience of private communication with their departed loved ones. This is the definitive book on the subject. Botkin, a clinical psychologist, created the therapy while counseling Vietnam veterans in his work at a Chicago area VA hospital. Botkin recounts his initial—accidental—discovery of IADC during therapy sessions with Sam, a Vietnam vet haunted by the memory of a Vietnamese girl he couldn't save. During the session, quite unexpectedly, Sam saw a vision of the girl's spirit, who told him everything was okay; she was at peace now. This single moment surpassed months--years--of therapy, and allowed Sam to reconnect with his family. Since that 1995 discovery, Botkin has used IADC to successfully treat countless patients—the book includes dozens of case examples—and has taught the procedure to therapists around the country. This is the inside story of a revolutionary therapy that will profoundly affect how grief and trauma are understood and treated.
"We recommend this work for both bilingual counselors and for mono-lingual counselors in schools and clinical settings. The grief counseling techniques are clearly explained and are accessible even to those who have not been extensively trained in the areas of loss and grief."--Illness, Crisis and Loss "Grief Therapy with Latinos: Integrating Culture for Clinicians advancesthe field of grief therapy by offering a culturally sensitive model for Latino/as. Rich intheory and practice, this book offers a culturally congruent approach to grief therapy. Theauthors present an effective model that teaches therapists how to comprehend Latino/así'mourning in Spanish.' Grief Therapy with Latinos: Integrating Culture for Clinicians can serve as a graduatetextbook as well as a reference for novice and seasoned clinicians."--Lillian Comas-Diaz, PhD, in Psychoanalytic Psychology This book serves as both a graduate textbook and clinical reference that helps in the understanding of relevant cultural values and their effect on the grieving process. Grief Therapy with Latinos also addresses the application of specific interventions in a culturally appropriate manner, including the importance of language in grief therapy, psychology, and counseling with a Latino population. The main focus of this book is to identify underlying pathologies, depressions, or anxieties that could have existed before, and the relevance of the cultural components that can interfere with the adaption to and the resolution of grief. Written in three parts-specific cultural and psychological components of Latino grief, the many faces of grief, and grief within the family context-each part demonstrates a clear hands-on approach to how to respond to Latino patients and addresses aspects universally related to grief and psychological points of view. Key features: Addresses culturally specific and diverse narratives of loss to illustrate cultural revelations in the grief process and the clinical assessment of denial and spirituality Discusses the relevance of language in the expression of grief, assessment, and treatment Presents clear and easy-to-read grief therapy approaches and methods Includes adaptations of traditional psychotherapeutic techniques, incorporating relevant cultural values
Attachment-Informed Grief Therapy bridges the fields of attachment studies and thanatology, uniting theory, research, and practice to enrich our understanding of how and why people grieve and how we can help the bereaved. In its pages, clinicians and students will gain a new understanding of the etiology of complicated grief and its treatment and will become better equipped to formulate accurate and specific case conceptualization and treatment plans. The authors also illustrate the ways in which the therapeutic relationship is a crucially important—though largely unrecognized—element in grief therapy, and offer guidelines for an attachment informed view of the therapeutic relationship that can serve as the foundation of all grief therapy.
"To those of us who have been aware of the innovative service to families facing death and bereavement that has been developed by David W. Kissane and Sidney Bloch this book has been eagerly awaited. Their work is a logical development in the field of Palliative Care in which it has long been recognized that, when life is threatened, it is the family (which includes the patient) which is, or ought to be, the unit of care. The work also has great relevance for the wider field of bereavement care...all who work to help families at times of death and bereavement will find much to learn from this book which represents a useful addition to our understanding of the losses which, sooner or later, we all have to face." - Colin Murray Parkes Family members are often intimately involved in the care of dying people and themselves require support through both their experience of palliative care and bereavement. This innovative book describes a comprehensive model of family care and how to go about it - Family Focused Grief Therapy is an approach which is new, preventive, cost effective and with proven benefits to bereaved people. It describes a highly original and creative approach to bereavement care, one likely to revolutionize psychosocial care in oncology, hospice or palliative care and grief work. The book has been designed rather like a therapy manual, providing a step-by-step approach to assessment and intervention. Its rich illustration through many clinical examples brings the process of therapy alive for the reader, anticipating the common challenges that arise and describing how the therapist might respond. Families are recognised throughout as the central social unit, pivotal to the success of palliative care. Family Focused Grief Therapy will be of use to doctors, nurses, psychologists, social workers, pastoral care workers, psychiatrists and other allied health professionals who work in caring for the dying and for their bereaved relatives. Based soundly on a decade of internationally regarded research, this book will alter the direction of future medical practice and is destined to become a classic in its field.
