Customer Reviews

Getting Back to Life When Grief Won't Heal

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I do not usually read this type of book, but I saw it at the bookstore and having dealt with loss myself, I decided to buy it. This book really provides advice and solace for individuals who are grieving for people they lost recently or long ago. This book speaks to me in a way that no other book has spoken to me.

This book is a must read for clinicians working with clients who are dealing with grief issues as well as the general population of individuals coping with loss and bereavement. After reading it, I have ordered several copies to share with friends and family members who are in their own way attempting to get back to life when grief won't heal. Phyllis Kosminsky has made her subject accessible to all audiences.

This book is beautifully written and it is an important addition to my library. Phyllis Brown LCSW

In the shattering and seemingly endless moments following the loss of my beloved soul mate, I have read many books on grief in an effort to keep from coming unglued. Many of those books have helped to some degree. Phyllis Kosminsky's book ranks up there among my top five, maybe top three books. It is like a gift from the angels. She writes well, with enormous compassion, and obvious expertise, bringing order, and sanity, to chaotic thoughts and emotions. Now, my only regret is that she doesn't live closer to me, even assuming she has room on her client list to take new patients. If you're hanging onto the edge of a very thin ledge, read this book! And may we all be fortunate enough to find the likes of Phyllis Kosminsky in our city, town, or village. Peace...

I have waited for this book with great anticipation!! Dr. Kosminsky is a gifted and insightful therapist with so much to offer us all on the topic of recovering from grief. I have looked forward to reading the inspirations and understanding that she brings to this painful subject as no one else could or can. And...I am not disappointed. This book is smart, interesting, validating, easy to read and above all else helpful!! Like cool water on a burn! Ahh! Even though I cried through part of it because it touched some raw parts in me, reading this book was like having a friend and a warm water bottle of comfort for some yet unhealed places. I walked away relieved and lighter with a better understanding of where I've been. I'm going to give this book to my clients, family, friends - everyone I know who has been touched by loss and needs a bit of help.

Cindy Browning, LCSW

Phyllis Kosminsky has written an extraordinarily beautiful and helpful book for people struggling with profound loss. Her years of experience in working with grief and her depth of understanding and compassion combine to make this book a unique offering in the field of bereavement.

It is written in such an unusually honest, direct, and gentle voice that the reader feels she is right there, present in the room, offering her understanding, support and encouragement.

I am terrible when it comes to handling other people's grief, I feel like I never know the right thing to say, and what I do say sounds hollow and insincere. So, opening this book was like walking through a door I didn't really want to go through. I shouldn't have been afraid. The issue of grieving became so much more understandable and real to me. The patients' stories were compelling, I kept wanting to know more about each of them. The author's voice had a calming effect in relaying both her competence with this difficult process (including the innovative use of EMDR) and her obvious sense of concern and empathy for her patients. Now I know exactly what to give my friends when they are faced with a loss and hopefully I'll know where to turn when I face my own.

As a pyschiatric nurse clinician, this book gave me some new tools for my practice with clients who have experienced loss.The author illustrated her insights with the compelling stories her clients have shared with her over the years. It's clear that her own experience with loss, as she mentions in the preface, gives her a unique understanding and empathy with the subject. I recommend the book for professionals and for lay people who are "stuck" in the grieving process.

Anyone who has lost someone, particularly those who may be wondering why time has passed but they are continuing to grieve, will appreciate this book. Dr. Kosminsky reveals the stories of those she has worked with in a way that is both insightful and compassionate. There is much to relate to in these stories for anyone who mourns. Unlike many other books on mourning, this book offers more than just sympathy and understanding...it offers ways to get your life back. I read on the cover that Dr. Kosminsky works with mourners at a place called "The Center for Hope," and I'm not surprised. This isn't a book about mourning, it's a book about hope, and about how regular people can reach down deep within themselves and find a way to go on and to rebuild their lives even in the face of seemingly inconsolable grief. This is the most uplifting book I've read in years.

This book is--as so many other books on grieving are--written by a counseling professional; it's replete with case histories. The unusual thing about Getting Back to Life is that these case histories are dragged on far too long. There is nothing consoling about skimming the life-histories of total strangers.

By the fifth chapter (which doesn't begin until well after page 100), the author has some very good insights, but the insights are simply that: insights. Unfortunately, even brilliant insights do not warrant being published in book form.

I was bowled over by the repeated five star reviews this work received on Amazon. In the end, it kind of hurt, to have devoted so much time hoping this book would have something to say to mourners no matter what the source of their grief. It was instead a kind of arm's length diary for a handful of the counselor's patients.

Not recommended.

I am a clinician who specializes in bereavement, and Ms. Kosminsky's book is the most helpful I have read, both for clinicians and most important, for those who are dealing personally with loss and grief.

The book seeks to aid those who are having particular difficulty in moving through their bereavement. I couldn't put it down.