Helping Those Who Hurt: A Handbook for Caring and Crisis [Paperback]

Barbara Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 1, 2009

Whether you’re a layperson or a professional counselor, Helping Those Who Hurt will help you care for others encountering life crises such as:

• illness, hospitalization, and death
• a troubled marriage
• addiction
• suicide

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Life’s struggles affect everyone at some time. Whether you’re a friend of someone who hurts, a layperson in ministry, or a professional counselor, you need guidance and practical advice during the pain of a crisis. Get the wisdom and direction you’re looking for in Helping Those Who Hurt.

Barbara Roberts offers lists, step-by-step directions, Scripture, and dozens of tips from her own experience as the director of a large Caring Ministry department. Written in a practical, conversational manner, this book lends support for the crises you encounter.

About the Author

Barbara M. Roberts has directed the Caring Ministry department for Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Englewood, Colorado, for more than twenty years, helping many families and individuals through grief and loss, death, suicide, addiction, and all other life crises discussed in Helping Those Who Hurt. She is a conference speaker and teacher on these and other Caring Ministry subjects.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: NavPress (March 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1600063829
• ISBN-13: 978-1600063824
• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 5.4 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Ministry & Church Leadership > Ministry to the Sick & Bereaved

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Ready Help When I Didn't Know What to Say August 18, 2009

By Dorothy L. Foote

Format:Paperback

When I learned that a co-worker's son had taken his life I turned to Helping Those Who Hurt. Because no announcement was made at my workplace, how do you announce something like that, few of our staff knew, but I wanted to make contact with my co-worker. How could I address the unimaginable, the unthinkable? On p. 85 of Helping Those Who Hurt,`Helpful Information for Those Who Lose Someone to Suicide', I found a list of the normal reactions my coworker, the survivor, might be experiencing: shock, headaches, loss of appetite, inability to sleep, anger, guilt ("If only ____"), the need to tell her story, fear of crying, a need for permission to get professional help, a need to laugh, the realization that the lives of friends and co-workers may return to normal, but this loss was her new and permanent normal. On p. 106 of the book I read: ". . . grief and mourning take as long as they take. The length of the grieving process is as variable as the number of people who experience it. It often depends on the willingness of those grieving to `work' on the grief and the willingness of family members and friends to give each other permission to grieve and to accept that there is no shortcut to working on the process of grief. We probably don't ever `recover' from grief; instead we learn to manage and cope." Also, on p. 106, a few lines that gave me courage to reach out to her: "Many people feel uncomfortable with other people's pain and don't know what to say to those in grief. The more comfortable you are with grief as a natural process, the better able you will be to accept grieving people right where they are and effectively minister to them." The list, `Helpful Things To Say to People Who Are Grieving', on p.107, was very useful, and freeing. I realized I did not have to be eloquent or creative. From this list I understood that simplicity was the best guide to what to say: "I am very sad about your loss." "I don't know what to say, but I do care about you very much." "How are you doing at this moment?" "I understand if I do not hear from you. Please do not feel you have to respond to me anytime soon." "What may I do to help you get through today?" "I've never been where you are, but I can imagine you are in incredible pain right now." "I have not forgotten you." Helping Those Who Hurt is an easy to use, ready guide for a person who wishes to reach out to someone in crisis with understanding and sensitivity.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Have August 14, 2009

By G. Dykstra

Format:Paperback

I have been training Stephen Ministers to care for people in crisis since 1993, and am so grateful for this easy resource to pass on to them as they complete their training. Barbara Roberts' new book, "Helping Those Who Hurt", is a compact referral guide for most every crisis that these lay caregivers may be called to. I have used it as a graduation gift to give them as they complete their training and they are already telling me how helpful this book has been.
Barbara's book should be a "must have" for professionals and nonprofessionals who have a desire to walk alongside people who are in pain. For those of us who find ourselves in the difficult place of supporting friends or family in their time of need, you will want to have this book on hand.
Every time I have loaned this book out to a pastor or fellow minister it has not been returned, I think it has somehow become part of their own resource library.
Callae Dykstra, Englewood, Colorado

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Handy and Helpful August 13, 2009

By L. Fleming

Format:Paperback

If you have ever worried that you might say the wrong thing so you say nothing to the friend in crisis, you need to get this handbook. It's size (easy enough to fit in a jacket pocket or purse) and easy-to-use format make it a must to have handy. So many of us are called on to "be there" for people in crisis whether in ministry or not. A ready tool when those times come will make it easier to respond with the right heart as well as the right words.

The author relies strongly on faith and Scripture to direct the reader which makes those of us, who are not professionally trained, realize that God wants to use us to walk along side those who are hurting.

Since I am facing the aging of a parent, I relied heavily on the insights offered in this book. You will find situations addressed, I guarantee, that will find you unprepared.

I have purchased several copies and given this book to others. In the words of the old song, "Little is much when God is in it," this little book offers much to its reader.