Synopses & Reviews
A compassionate guide to the experience of loss as an essential growth process
• Explores the nature of loss as a profound mystery shared by all human beings
• Offers sensitive and practical advice for experiencing grief and preparing for the healing journey that follows
• Includes CD of the author reading selections from the text
We grieve only for that which we have loved, and the transient nature of life makes love and loss intimate companions. In Good Grief professional grief educator Deborah Morris Coryell describes grief as the experience of not having anywhere to place our love, of losing a connection, an outlet for our emotion. To heal grief we have to learn how to continue to love in the face of loss.
In this compassionate guide, Coryell gives inspiring examples of how embracing our losses allows us to awaken our most profound connections to other people. Though our society tends to rank losses in a “hierarchy of grief,” she reminds us that all losses must be grieved in their own right and on their own terms, and that we must honor the “small” losses as well as the “big” ones. Paying attention to even the most minute experiences of loss can help us to be more in tune with our responses to the greater ones, allowing us to once again become part of the rhythm of life from which we have become disconnected. This 10th anniversary edition includes a 60-minute CD of the author reading select passages from the text.
Review
“[For] people who are dealing with grief or who are going through other major life transitions. I draw upon Deborah Coryell’s wisdom and expertise and recommend Good Grief as a resource for both patients and physicians.”
Review
"Coryell has written a compassionate and quietly inspiring book explaining why we should grieve, how to grieve without getting lost in despair, and what healing can occur when you grieve. . . . I highly recommend this book. It's exceptionally well-written, with a gentleness and strength that supports those experiencing loss, as well as their friends and family members who wish to help, but need direction to do so."
Review
"This slim yet powerful book will help readers to not just deal with grief, but also to benefit from it."
Review
“Helps families deal with grief in a way that is nurturing, honoring, and life-affirming.”
Review
“An insightful and compassionate guide to one of life’s essential growth processes. Grieving is not to penalize us; it is love’s healing work for loss.”
Review
“[Deborah Morris Coryell] writes in a compassionate voice that offers comfort as well as a challenge to encourage transformation through the experience of loss. An excellent companion . . . a helpful and validating resource for grief counselors, for anyone working with people in grief, and for many working with their own grief issues.”
Review
"In this compassionate guide, the author gives inspiring examples of how embracing our losses allows us to awaken our most profound connections to other people."
Review
"The book is small, but every word is well chosen, thoughtful and filled with wisdom. The additional CD really impacts listeners because Deborah reads her book with deep compassion, sincerity, and emotional commitment to the subject of grieving. One gets the sense that Deborah really does know, at a very profound level, of the pain we suffer when we must say goodbye to someone we love."
Review
“[Para] las persons que estan sufriendo con la pena o quienes están atravesando un mayor periodo de transición en sus vidas. Yo dependo sobre la sabiduría y habilidad de Deborah Coryell y recomiendo Bendita Pena como un recurso para pacientes y médicos.” < b=""> Andrew Weil, M.D. <> , autor de < i=""> Eight Weeks to Optimum Health <>
Review
“Una guía exhaustiva y compasiva sobre uno de los procesos de crecimiento esenciales en la vida. El duelo no es una penalidad que se nos impone; es la labor de sanación que realiza el amor cuando perdemos a un ser querido.” < b=""> Rabino Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi <> , coautor de < i=""> From Age-ing to Sage-ing <>
Review
“Ayuda a las familias a hacer frente al duelo en una forma robustecedora, honrosa y vital.” < b=""> Gershon Winkler <> , director de la Fundaci & oacute;n & ldquo;Walking Stick & rdquo; y autor de < i=""> The Way of the Boundary Crosser <>
Review
“[Deborah Morris Coryell] escribe con una voz misericordiosa que nos reconforta y al mismo tiempo nos desafía a promover la transformación a través de la experiencia de la pérdida. Esta obra es un excelente acompañante. . . un recurso útil y de validación para los consejeros de duelo, para cualquiera que trabaje con personas afligidas por una pena y para muchos que tratan de superar penas en sus propias vidas.” < i=""> The Library Letter <> , Universidad Bastyr
Review
“Helps families deal with grief in a way that is nurturing, honoring, and life-affirming.”
Review
“[For] people who are dealing with grief or who are going through other major life transitions. I draw upon Deborah Coryells wisdom and expertise and recommend Good Grief as a resource for both patients and physicians.” < b=""> Andrew Weil, M.D. <> , author of < i=""> Eight Weeks to Optimum Health <>
Review
"Coryell has written a compassionate and quietly inspiring book explaining why we should grieve, how to grieve without getting lost in despair, and what healing can occur when you grieve. . . . I highly recommend this book. It's exceptionally well-written, with a gentleness and strength that supports those experiencing loss, as well as their friends and family members who wish to help, but need direction to do so." < b=""> Karen Phillippi <> , < i=""> The Beltane Papers <> , Issue 35, Oct 2005
Review
"This slim yet powerful book will help readers to not just deal with grief, but also to benefit from it." < i=""> Whole Body & Living Soul <> , October 2004
About the Author
Deborah Morris Coryell has worked in the health field developing wellness programs since 1974. She founded the Wellness Education Department for Canyon Ranch Spa Resorts as well as for the Pritikin Longevity Center. She is a visiting faculty member for Dr. Andrew Weil’s program in Integrative Medicine and is cofounder and executive director of the Shiva Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the education and support of those dealing with loss and death, located in San Luis Obispo, California.
Table of Contents
Letter to the Reader Ten Years Later . . . May 2007
Explorations into the Nature of Loss
Being Lost
Core Grief
Time Does Not Heal All Wounds
Daily Practice
Bearing the Burden
Resources for Transforming Our Relationship to Loss
The Art of Losing
Breath
Simple Presence--Open Heart
Shadow Work
Imagine
Surrender
State of Witness
Healing the Mystical Body of Loss
The Spiral Dance
Ritual of Remembering
Philomena-July 25, 1996
The Edge
Faith
The Gateless Gate
The Never-Ending Story