Customer Reviews

GOOD GRIEF RITUALS: Tools for Healing (Healing Companion)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a truly helpful book with a wide range of rituals for those who are bereaved or need to grieve for many of life's losses like the loss of a pet, a job, or even a long-held belief. Life is full of necessary losses. This book shows us how to cope with them, learn from them and understand how this part of life can be of great value to us. It also helps us to express and deal with feelings that are not accepted or encouraged in our society. I bought the book to learn how to deal with a tragic suicide that affected my family. I found it to be an invaluable source of support and comfort.

THIS BOOK WAS MY ROCK WHEN I WAS GOING THRU MY GRIEVING PROCESS. IT WAS SO HELPFUL AND I HAVE PASSED IT ON TO OTHERS. I THINK EVERYONE NEEDS THIS BOOK TO GO THRU THE RECOVERY PROCESS FROM OLD AND NEW GRIEF.

My accupunturist lent me her first edition copy of this book to help with the grief of my best friend committing suicide, three years ago. 18 months after the first suicide - another friend committed suicide. Boy, this book was an amazing tool and offered support to me when no one else could. I always have three copies in my home to lend to others and I have also purchased about 35 more for anyone who needs the help during their life time.

This book has proven to be a valuable resource for may grief specialists in the community. Previous reviews seemed to have missed the point that the book may serve as an outline for grief work or used in conjunction with therapy. The book is not a substitute for the "Real" life work that needs to be done. Consider that Elaine has thought about these issues long before "grief" held such cache in the psychological community. One reviewer mentioned New Age or Zen etc., Why not.. Freudian drive theory did not do us much good on the issue-- did it?

I am a grief facilitator and have read over 50 books on grief. For some people a "ritual" helps them to let go of the pain. But I found the style of these rituals to be too "Zen." I really don't think that people in grief need to "get intouch with their inner child." Using insense in some of the rituals felt too mystical to me. I did like the ritual of digging a hole and putting in all the negetive feelings of pain, but most of the suggested rituals were too "new age" for my taste.

I bought this book ten years ago, during a period of intensive grief. I used it to develop my own very cathartic rituals that were instrumental in my reaping maximum benefit from my grief process. Over the years, I lost the book and recently replaced it through Amazon for my spirituality library. I highly recommend it as part of a highly-selective reference library on grief for anyone suffering through it.

I've found this book to offer more rituals than other books I've read on the topic of grief, but the explanations seem cursory at times, and I'm finding myself asking "huh?" a lot. Frankly, Good Grief Rituals feels rather amateurish. However, I applaud the author for including many ideas, but perhaps she might have gone deeper with less.

I'm a cynic. I loath self-help books and counseling/psycho babble type stuff absolutely makes me seeth with a burning hatred.
However, when my father died of cancer someone gave me this book, and while it does have some cringe worthy cheesiness it did help quite a bit.

These grief rituals are out there....not for the general population....I was hoping to use some of this with bereaved individuals but I don't think these ideas would go over well. More for the very creative and expressive types....

This was not what I thought it was when I got it. It was a bit to new age, and the rituals a bit to mundane for me.