Helping a mother transcend the death of her only child, helping a young child understand and cope with the death of a loved one, and helping survivors of the AIDS epidemic cope with the loss of numerous loved ones and the loss of community are among the greatest challenges facing today’s bereavement counselors. Bereavement explores these sensitive issues and ways bereavement counselors can help these individuals construct new identities and new worldviews that are self-affirming. Using this book as a guide, you can improve your understanding of the various resources and options that can be employed to achieve the healthy resolution of grief with individuals, families, and communities.

Recognizing that the experience of grieving is unique for all individuals, Bereavement addresses a wide range of issues facing bereavement professionals. Its authors offer a multitude of effective therapeutic interventions and techniques. You will learn to encourage grievers to incorporate important aspects of their lost relationship(s) into their present lives to gain greater personal integration and wholeness; see how to use music, dance, art, and play therapy with clients to help them explore their grief and move through the various stages of grieving; acquire helpful hints and practical advice for offering extended bereavement care to both hospice and non-hospice families; and see how a highly successful interdisciplinary bereavement team approach has been employed in one of the largest bereavement programs in the U.S. You will also learn about other crucial topics and issues faced by bereavement counselors, including:

• uniting survivors of different types of death in a support group
• teaching your community about death/dying
• developing rural hospice bereavement services
• emotional, behavioral, physical, social, and cognitive symptoms of grief
• healthy coping mechanisms
• pre-death bereavement interventions
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• multiple trauma
• survivor guilt
• bereavement counseling as a supplement to normal support networks
  
  Bereavement will help you enhance your knowledge and skills in the delivery of effective bereavement services. Whether you are a beginner or a counselor with several years of experience, you will find this book an invaluable guide as it walks you through the different stages of mourning, through different human reactions to death and dying, and through different therapeutic approaches.