Saying Goodbye: How Families Can Find Renewal Through Loss [Hardcover]

Barbara Okun (Author), Joseph Nowinski (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 4, 2011

The new definitive text on grieving in today's world.

With advances in modern medicine, the nature of death and dying has undergone a dramatic shift. A diagnosis of a life-threatening disease is not always an immediate death sentence, and one can survive months or even years before succumbing to a terminal illness. It can give us the gift of more time with our loved ones-but it can also complicate the grieving process, prolonging the emotional pain, bringing family issues to the forefront, and creating new challenges for everyone involved.

Published in collaboration with Harvard Health Publications, Saying Goodbye explores what this means for those who may be left "living with death" for an extended period of time. Guiding readers through this complex journey, Okun and Nowinski introduce and explore its five stages-crisis, unity, upheaval, resolution, and renewal-and offer a road map that will help readers navigate their way through the realities of death and dying.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Barbara Okun, Ph.D., is a professor of counseling psychology at Northeastern University and a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School, a clinician, and an author.

Joseph Nowinski, Ph.D. is a nationally known psychologist with over twenty years of practice and an award-winning author of several books.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover (January 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425233227
• ISBN-13: 978-0425233221
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.2 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #977,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Written for the lay person... January 6, 2011

By Jill Meyer TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

who wants to know more about dealing with death. As the two authors, Barbara Okun and Joseph Nowinski, write in their excellent guide, "Saying Goodbye", death these days is often a slower process as people are living longer and living with terminal disease. A lingering death of a loved-one gives the family and friends and the patient a chance to prepare for the inevitable. And preparing can be everything from emotional to physical to financial matters. Throughout the book, Okun and Nowinski use the voices of people going through the process which gives the reader a more casual feel than perhaps a text book on the subject might do. This book is written for the lay person and simple, easily digestible terms are used to make the subject of a loved one's approaching death a little easier to deal with.

Okun and Nowlinski redefine the Five Stages of Grief, as originally conceived by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her 1970 book, "On Death and Dying". They bring it up-to-date, dealing with the new realities of terminal illness and death.

This guide, published by Harvard Health Publications, does not just list references about where you can seek help, but also goes through the steps needed to help both the family/caregivers and the terminal patient. Writing about the emotional toll in the situation, the authors give useful suggestions about forming support groups to help. They also write about the ruptures within a family that terminal illness of one member often bring out in the open that have long been hidden. Okun and Nowinski are excellent writers and the subject of terminal illness and death are delicately, yet forthrightly handled.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finding Hope in the Middle of Grief January 29, 2012

By Lucinda K. Porter

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have read many books related to the death and dying process and Saying Goodbye is one of the best on the subject. This book takes readers through the complex journey that most of us have or will endure, a journey best taken with capable guidance. Okun and Nowinski write with clarity and compassion, as well as a pragmatic approach to help readers navigate the overwhelming feelings and features surrounding terminal illness. Saying Goodbye brings hope in the darkest of times and I recommend it unequivocally.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Saying goodbye is for anyone March 29, 2012

By Alex

Format:Hardcover

For myself, this book brought up important questions and provided insight for helpful and healing ways of processing the ubiquitous fact of death and dying specifically today, with advances in medicine. I came across a blog post by Dr.Nowinski and it piqued my interest enough to seek out this and another even more recent book he authored. I read it because the moden day dying process (a longer one then ever before, in many cases) is all too hushed, fragmented and certain real apects seem taboo -- the subject matter is less an immediate concern right now for me then it might be for others - nonetheless it is an absolute keeper and source book for living in today's world.