The Healing Sorrow Workbook: Rituals for Transforming Grief and Loss [Paperback]

Peg Elliott Mayo (Author), David Feinstein (Foreword), Ph.D., David Feinstein (Author), L.C.S.W., Peg Elliott Mayo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 10, 2001

Youill find this workbook helpful if youire experiencing sorrow following the death of a loved one, a debilitating illness or disability, the departure of your children for college or life on their own, the death of a cherished pet, the loss of a family home or other financial setback, a natural disaster, or any other kind of loss. The book begins with the compelling insight that the goal of grief work is not a reduction of sadness, but a recaptured ability to experience pleasure in life. In her practice, the author has found that personalized rituals are the most effective way to dispel sorrow and reintroduce pleasure into life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: New Harbinger Publications; First Edition edition (May 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157224240X
• ISBN-13: 978-1572242401
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,700,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book can heal , touch, and transform you... or another, February 5, 2002

By 

Jeff Taylor (Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Healing Sorrow Workbook: Rituals for Transforming Grief and Loss (Paperback)

Every person carries within a sea of unshed tears, and it is not enough to simply cope with the grief of loss, bereavement. That is mere survival. Somehow, you must transform the most terrible pain into gold, the sweet light of laughter, the will to carry on as a human being, to hear and rejoin the keening song of life. Only then can you ever hope to reclaim your life.

This book is packed solid with wisdom, brilliance, lessons, wonders, and a profound sense of the secret beauty of life that you will never find in other books about "dealing with" grief. People don't really deal with grief, because our whole culture has few useful mechanisms or models. We bury grief deep, conceal our wounds and scars even from ourselves, and hope for answers on the other side. The failure to heal those in pain is, I believe, the true emptiness of our age.

This is THE book to give to someone who is hurting. Frankly, I think that includes everyone on the planet. In a perfect world, this book would be a runaway bestseller, because every single chapter rings true, each lesson teaches gently and heals completely, and you can find out for yourself just by reading a passage at random. I submit that this book could magically change the world if everyone read it, and so I recommend it to everyone I know. There are no adequate superlatives to describe the genius of it, the way it heals pain. It is simply magnificent.

One more thing: if you buy a copy for someone else, buy another for yourself. Or two or three, because we all encounter beings who feel they cannot possibly go on. Grief is so harrowing that it may take a month or two for someone who is hurting to open its pages; but once they do, they will begin to breath again.