Customer Reviews

Healing Grief : Reclaiming Life After Any Loss

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I wish this book had been in print years ago, the first time I had to cope with the loss of a loved one, and was floundering in pain. "Healing Grief" is overflowing with helpful information from simple exercises to help you heal to a special section of the more frequently asked questions. The author says his desire is for the reader to " get back to living your life with an added awareness of loss and grieving". You may find situations very similar to your own challenges. His list of ways to help yourself on pages 263-264, are beautifully crafted to comfort, ease the pain, and move you through moments daily. For example: "carry on your loved one's memory by finishing an activity that he or she started but wasn't able to complete:"and make a list of things that make you laugh. Know that the person who passed would want you to be happy;" and say something nice to a stranger today;" and remember that everyone grieves differently, and some not at all. Each of us is a unique, individualistic creature of God; "and forgive yourself for being upset or angry. The most important thing is to feel. It is okay if someone else doesn't understand your hurt;" and get a little more sleep and look forward to your dreams." James Van Praagh shares his own anguish and recovery from his mother's death, as well as stories of others, and how they handled the healing process. Yes, he attributes the wisdom contained in the book to his "guides, and those on the other side of heaven". This book far surpasses his previous "Talking to Heaven" and "Reaching to Heaven". I gave copies of this book to my five step-daughters who are experiencing the recent loss of their beloved mother. It says what I would like to say; but James Van Praagh says it better. Highly recommended! Wonderful spiritual stories and lessons to help heal the heart. Beneficial to those who need to remember that they are not alone.

I have read all of Van Praagh's books and have found them all to be extremely timely and beneficial. This book is no exception. Many topics are covered here - and not just grief from the death of a loved one. Van Praagh covers divorce, loss of pets, passages, and grief resulting from destruction.

He gently and lovingly guides one through the grief and reminds us once again, that we need to grieve, in our own way and in our own time - eveyone is different. Our society tends to hasten the grief process and does not seem to honor what each and every one of us needs to heal. "We need to accept the loss in order begin the healing process. All grief needs to be felt and realized."

"Let your grief become an opportunity for your soul to grow." Van Praagh illustrates that each soul is on a unique path, a unique jouney. When that soul's mission is accomplished, that soul goes "home" to God - yet the soul continues to live on - it is just the physical body which dies.

This book will bring immense comfort in the loss of loved one through death, through divorce or even through a relationship ending. We deal with the grief, grow and move on. To NOT deal with the grief, is to stagnate.

There are many wonderful illustrations from different readings which Van Praagh has done with family members which have lost a loved one. The love that comes through is just amazing. Love never dies - it is eternal.

I found this book extremely beneficial, healing and transforming. I found that there is grief still left in me from losing loved ones that I now need to express. "In order to continue life in any meaningful way, you must allow yourself to grieve."

The shock that one goes through when dealing with a loss is not often understood by others, yet one gets condemned for acting stupid or for doing stupid things by others. My compassion level as well as my patience has enabled me to more understanding of my past actions and behaviors by reading this section on the shock effect of grief. My eyes are now opened to a new level of compassion and understanding for myself as well as for others. Thank you.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough! The comfort that it has brought me is 10 stars! "Tears clean the windows of the soul. Grieving is a great opportunity to grow, to understand and to explore ourselves."

Reading a book by James Van Praagh is like sitting down with your best friend for coffee. He is down to earth yet knowledgeable in addition to being kind and sympathetic. "Healing Grief" is an important book not only for those suffering a recent loss but also for those of us who have not properly grieved a loss from the past. As I read the book, I was immediately taken back to my grief over the loss of a very important relationship in my life. I still grieve this loss after five years because I have not properly dealt with the attending emotions. Going through James' checklists and steps for dealing with grief helped a great deal. I'm better prepared now to deal with loss in the future. I will read this book over and over again and purchase more copies for friends and loved ones when they experience a loss.

The skeptics and fundamentalists can say whatever they want. There is no doubt in my mind that James Van Praagh is a talented medium as well as a sincere, compassionate person. I've read all three of his books and give them all five stars. I don't see any point in doing a review unless I can give it five stars. This books combines very good advice on dealing with grief -- from death, divorce, and other stressful events during our lifetime, but what really made the book for me were the very interesting, intriguing, and inspirational stories he mixed in about grieving people who have had sittings with him. Loved ones on the other side would come through and provide clear-cut, evidential information that helped the grieving ones overcome their grief. Some of them are real tearjerkers. Once a person can overcome his or her fear of death, once that person can embrace death, life becomes more meaningful, less stressful, and much more enjoyable. Thank God for James Van Praagh.

"Healing Grief" is the most important book written so far by James Van Praagh, because grief is such a devastating emotion. We cannot imagine our life without our loved one who has been taken and nothing will bring him or her back. In my homeland, Estonia, at the end of WWII, in the fall of 1944, when the Germans retreated and the Russians advanced toward Berlin, my father, who served in the Red Army, visited with us briefly. He had been mobilized four years before, and we hadn't heard of him in all those years, and now he was with us. The hope that one day we will be all together was revived... Two days passed quickly and he went back to war. Two weeks after he left, we received the official announcement that he was killed in battle. I was 10 years old. I wore my heart on my sleeve and declared my personal war against God. Of course, I never won it, but my anger, bitterness and vulnerability almost ruined my life. And in a materialist society it took decades until the idea of the eternal life of the soul reached my consciousness and started slow but steady healing.

Read James Van Praagh's "Healing Grief." This book will teach you not to harm yourself or the soul of your loved one in its transition. Over and over again this book will prove that the soul lives on and one day you will meet your loved one again. "Healing Grief" will remind you that you are not alone, it will help you let your pain and anger go, move on with your life and get in touch with your wisdom -- it is there, in your heart, buried under the pain, its voice can be heard, if you only try... END

I read this book in one sitting. The words in this book have such a truth about them, they touched by soul. It is a book which helps one deal with life and losses. Thank you, James for your guidance and down to earth writing!

I BORROWED THIS BOOK FROM A FRIEND AFTER LOSING A SPECIAL PERSON IN MY LIFE.. NOW I HAVE TO OWN IT .. IT IS A MUST READ FOR ANYONE WHO HAS LOST A FRIEND, LOVE, OR FAMILY MEMBER. JAMES ONCE AGAIN OPENS YOUR HEART AND YOUR MIND TO KNOW THAT YES THERE IS LIFE AFTER DEATH AND ONE CAN STAY IN TOUCH WITH IT DURING LIFE HERE ON EARTH

I cannot stand this man who has taken it upon himself to prey upon the berieved for money. How do I know this? I'll tell you...

I've watched a number of programs with this man and noticed a number of interesting things. 1.) He misses his guesses on deceased people as much as he "gets" them (that's a 50% average, folks,) 2.) He blurts very common names out to the audience (i.e., I feel a "Mary" out there) 3.) He dodges very skeptical questions and makes plenty of excuses 4.) When he is cornered by a skeptic and can't weasel his way out of the question, he makes some phoney excuse about "Only God knows..." 5.) He can't give ANY feedback to people who don't respond to any of his questions -- only the ones that do.

I've also done plenty of research on him, including finding some interesting information on him on the Internet. Apparently, a small TV station who first put him on the air said, "When we first met him, he was very nice, he drove his little car over and talked to a lot of people. But now, if we want him to come back, he demands a limousine, specific foods, and is very, very expensive, let alone nasty." Start searching the internet, people, you'll find all kinds of stuff on this guy.

His background consists of being an ACTOR and a writer. He's "always" had the gift. Sorry, but I've seen enough to know this guy is just a liar as well as watching the infamous debunking on 20/20. When he was cornered, he got all snooty and said, "You roll back your tape and you'll see that I never asked that woman anything about her grandmother." Well, guess what? They did roll back the tape. Between takes, apparently he didn't think they were still filming and he DID ask her if she had a grandparent who died. He didn't say too much after that. James could have easily gotten his "messages from heaven" from general beliefs such as the tunnel of light, the great city, and he is not convincing... he's copying and boring.

People, if you really want to read a great book on a good medium, read "Lessons from the Light" by George Anderson. THIS guy is phenomenal. Never heard of him? That says volumes to me. James Van Praagh knew how to "market" himself -- George is more humble than that. To give some background on this guy before I go into the book, I have seen George Anderson in action and find him believable to the point of amazing. When he speaks to the dead, he insists on not getting any feedback from the person he is speaking to -- simply yes or no answers only and he goes into great detail about the loved ones who have moved on. But that isn't the part that is phenomenal... George has a habit of giving people "gifts" from the deceased. One event in particular I remember would be when he was on the Howie Mandel show and he was councelling a Jewish man (Howie's producer,) about his deceased mother. He then pulled out a very unique small box with designs on it that was apparently Orthodox-Jewish and told him that it was from his mother who wanted to prove to him that she was there. The man was shocked and said that his mother owned one exactly like it when she was alive. Howie went on to say that when he met George Anderson he was surprised when George blurted out: "Your dad says that you should be taking your pills." Howie explained that no one knew about these pills he stopped taking and it was impossible that George knew it -- he believed that his father really did tell him through George. Plus, I don't see any news stations trying to call him a fake.

You want a real medium, check out George Anderson. His work helped us tremendously when we lost my father. In fact, this guy changed my life for the better. Trust me on this one. If you skip this charlitain and read George I guarantee you'll be satisfied.

James Van Praagh is able to cover all aspects of loss in life, from death of a loved one to loosing a job. I found it extemely helpful for many expierences in my life and also for those I may face in the future. I recommend this book to anyone, whether you believe in life after death or not, his knowledge and compassion is uplifting and reasuring.

James Van Praagh is a human being filled with compassion, empathy and understanding. His aim as a psychic is to assure those experiencing any form of grief that there are ways to deal with it, and he records these ways in this well-written and easy to understand book. We are assured that grieving is a natural process, and that ultimately, for those whom we've lost in death, we most assuredly will meet again. A book for helping everyone cope with the fact of loss in our lives. A sourcebook for all...