Short description:

Gift of Tears is intended for anyone who finds they have to cope, in the course of their daily lives, with the grief of others. It will prove invaluable to counsellors, therapists, mental health professionals and all those helping the bereaved.

Long description:

This thoroughly revised and updated edition of Gift of Tears includes new research and examples of recent events to help illustrate the effects of loss. Containing a strong practical element, the book guides the reader through the process of contemplating and eventually confronting their own relationship to loss.

Written by experienced counsellors and psychotherapists, the book contains candid and readable discussions of central issues, including:

* how to understand and work with anger and guilt
* attachment patterns and loss
* historical changes in attitudes to death and bereavement
* death as a particular form of loss.

Gift of Tears is intended for anyone who finds they have to cope, in the course of their daily lives, with the grief of others. It will prove invaluable to counsellors, therapists, mental health professionals and all those helping the bereaved.

www.bereavementarena.com

'I could hardly put this book down. The clear and engaging text of the prefaces continues throughout, and it certainly lives up to its description on the cover as 'a practical approach to loss and bereavement in counselling and psychotherapy'. The authors make no assumptions as to who the reader might be, and the straightforward language and updated research findings provide rich material for anyone lecturing, practicing or studying to work in pastoral care.' - Rosemary Markham, Psychodynamic Practice

'...a welcome addition to the body of work on bereavement and loss.' - Counselling

'In this book, Susan Lendrum and Gabrielle Syme have faced all the difficulties inherent in dealing with grief, in oneself and in others, and overcome them superbly. These pages are immensely readable, useful and enjoyable (it's always a joy to meet good writing!) and I, for one, am grateful to have had the chance to read them. For this book has two functions; it teaches counsellors, but also teaches the individual reader to face the reality of his/her own feelings about death and loss. And that is something we all have to do. I can't commend it too highly.' - Claire Rayner

'This is one of the best introductory books produced about grief... It would be of great value to those in the caring professions who have to support others through the grieving process.' - Nursing Times

'It is the 'practical approach' of Lendrum and Syme that singles out their book from the literature on loss and bereavement... Practitioners new to this area will find much in this book to inform and stimulate, as will more experienced counsellors and psychotherapists who want to revisit some of the issues involved in loss and bereavement.' - Helen Carroll, The Psychotherapist, Spring 2005 

This new edition builds on an existing text of merit. It is an important book both for students and practitioners familiar with the old edition, as well as new readers.' - Bereavement Care

'This book is based on a wealth of experience and knowledge and that was consistently evident. This is one of those books that both skilled practitioners and beginners will find helpful. It is also useful to everyone in a persoanl sense - it will resonate with all our worlds as loss is experienced by us all.' - Moira Walker, European Journal of Psychotherapy and Counselling

Table of Contents:

Introduction to First Edition. Introduction to Second Edition. Part 1: Loss and Nurture. Early Attachments and Loss. Adult Attachment Patterns. The Nurturing Environment. Part 2: Death as a Particular Form of Loss. Experiences of Death and Bereavement. The Effect of External Circumstances and Internal Factors on the Experience of Bereavement. Historical Change in Attitudes to Death and Bereavement. Cultural Variety. Children's Grief: 'Gift of Tears'. Personal and Family Experiences of Loss. Part 3: Working with the Grieving. Basic Loss Counselling Skills: 'Give Sorrow Words'. Tasks of Mourning: Meaning and Internalization. Further Skills Related to the Tasks of Mourning and Ending Counselling. Ways of Helping Children. Part 4: Anger and Guilt. Understanding Anger and Guilt. Working with Anger and Guilt in More Complicated Grief. Part 5: Professional Implications. Necessary Consultation for Complicated Grief. Assessment and Referral. Supervision. Epilogue.