Customer Reviews

This Thing Called Grief: New Understandings of Loss

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Subtitled: New Understandings of Loss

Striking a tone that is neither clinical nor maudlin, author Tom Ellis does a good job of explaining grief in his book, This Thing Called Grief. With factual information about the grieving process, poetry and some personal examples of individuals and families taking this journey, Ellis draws the reader in without bringing them down.

As a grief counselor myself, I know that when people are deep in the grieving process they are highly sensitive. Using this awareness Ellis has fashioned a book that sketches individual profiles without resorting to graphic descriptions that might be painful to readers.

With one of the main components of grief being an inability to concentrate for extended periods, Ellis has also shown his sensitivity to readers by writing a book less than one hundred pages long. The author gives enough information to be helpful without giving so much that it feels either overwhelming or discouraging. While the book in itself is short, Ellis has compiled an amazingly comprehensive list of resources for the reader that includes many books not only addressing grief and loss, but trauma and miscarriage, as well as books for children dealing with these same issues.

However, two factors set this book apart. The first is that while many books see grief as a burdensome part of life meant to be endured, This Thing Called Grief paints a portrait of grief that includes coming out on the other side of grief and being transformed and healed by the process. Although hope is in scarce supply during periods of grief, Ellis presents this view so gently it's bound to be gratefully received by many readers.

The second factor is that this book gives the reader permission to feel what they feel no matter what loss they are suffering. In our American culture, where you bury your father on Tuesday and are expected to be back at work and over it on Wednesday, this message is good news indeed.

Armchair Interviews says: A good book to give to someone grieving, even if you just gift yourself.

I work in the counseling field and one of my areas of specialization is grief, loss and bereavement for people dealing with death of humans or animals and so many other kinds of losses we all deal with on a daily basis. I have read many books in the area of grief and loss, attended many conferences and taken many courses. This book is one of the best I have ever read! It is comprehensive and compassionate, simply yet eloquently written. It is easily read in one sitting, yet covers all of the important areas that come up for people going through the grieving process. It is an important book to read for anyone dealing with loss, whether the loss is brand new or years old. Kudos to the author! I HIGHLY recommend this book.

Grief is the emotional response to loss. It is a complicated emotion that is necessary to work through in order to regain emotional equilibrium. Ignored and undealt with, grieve can lead to crippling isolation, overwhelming despair, the deprivation of the soul, mental illness and even death. Based in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Thomas Ellis is a licensed marriage and family therapist, clinical supervisor and executive director of the Center for Grief, Loss & Transition. Ellis draws upon is years of experience and professional expertise to explain just what grief is, how it works, and the role of the grieving process in healing us. Illustrated with stories of real men and women making this an ideal and instructive guide recommended for non-specialist readers having to cope with the loss of a loved one in their own lives, "This Thing Called Grief" shows how the transformation qualities of successful grieving can heal our sense of loss and enable us to cope with even the most tragic of events.

My husband lost his father at a very young age. He was in this frame of mind that he would 'get over it'. After reading this book, we both understand that he doesn't need to 'get over it' - he feels 'normal'.

This is a good gift for any one who has had a recent loss or a loss from many years ago.

I have many books on grief; I work with grieving. This book is one of the best out there. If you need it for yourself or to give to someone else this is the book for you.

It does not preach or chide the grieving as some do. This is a very helpful book that teaches and explains. It also allows the grieving to just grieve.

Overall...buy it!

The author of this book is a second-generation funeral director, licensed marriage and family therapist, and executive director at the Center for Grief, Loss and Transition. In this book he walks you through different ways people grieve and offers advice on how youu can use loss to heal and grow. A good book for people experiencing grief or loss for the first time-

-- Jamieson Haverkampf,

Author of the 4-time-award winning 500+ resource guide: Mom Minus Dad

Mom Minus Dad: The Essential Resource Guide for Busy Adults with a Newly Widowed Parent