Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy, Fourth Edition: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner 4th Edition

This book was easy to read, and it explained the current state (at least in 2009) of grief counseling and grief therapy. There is actually a newer edition, the 5th edition, which came out in 2018 a couple months after I bought this book. This book would have been better if there were reprints of various screening tools, and perhaps clinical cases where a grief counselor missed the mark in terms of understanding a patient's grief, or at least case descriptions of challenging cases, though maybe with privacy laws this would be hard to obtain consent for. I feel like I gained at least an introduction and understanding of the sort of work that grief therapist and counselors do.A section on dealing with difficult issues on a hospice inpatient unit might have been helpful, though that is sort of outside of the topic of grief therapy and counseling.

I would love to, if it weren't so personal. My husband passed away on March 3 of this year so I'm dealing with grieving. My counselor recommended this book, and frankly, when I saw the subtitle, "Handbook for Practitioners" (of psychotherapy), I almost returned it, until I took about five minutes to discover how very readable and helpful it is. Like my counselor, I find Dr. Worden's Task Therapy very practical and accessible to the non-specialist reader. I just ordered a gift copy for a friend, who lost her husband a matter of days after my husband's death.It's a blessing, truly.

Brilliant book. I am a social work professional. I found this book to be evidence based with relevant research, history on the topic including interesting stuff on the debate around terminology that has been happening in anticipation of DSMV. However, great strength is that it is also designed for practitioners and has detailed suggestions to enhance practice as well as great advice on self care and training. I've read and trained others on this topic and this is one of three I currently recommend to those I train.

I thought the book was very informative about most all aspects of grief, but did not have in depth information about dual parental loss and loss among refugees and asylees. However, I recognize that there is not a large amount of research in these topics, and perhaps better served in a different niche. Perhaps future editions could focus a section on dual parental loss in children and young adults and loss from war violence.

This book is VERY helpful for people who are embarking on grief therapy without previous experience. While it doesn't list specific techniques, it assists you as a clinician to put into perspective where the client may be on their journey, and gives you the thought processes you need to best assist your client.It's also easy to read. I bought this not for a class, but to expand my own knowledge, and have found it immensely helpful.

This is hands down the best book on grief and bereavement I have ever read. Clear, concise, and complete. I used this every day as a counselor and chaplain in a Level 1 Trauma Center. This book made sense and I could see its applicability every day on the job. I have read a truckload of books on grief and trauma and nothing comes close to this.

Very good book. Worth the money.

If you are a healtcare worker, clergy, funneral director or anyone who works with death and dying this is a must read. Excellent text, well researched, well written, up to date. Whether you do grief therapy and counseling or just deal with assisting people through their grief and mouring process, read this book. Most people's ideas on mourning are based on a 50+ year old model actually originally written about the dying process and not actually the post death grief and mourning period. This text should be required reading for all who deal with grief and mourning.

Good shape and on time - thank you

Having recently been through the experience of caring for and nursing a dying beloved one to the point of death, I looked for material that could help me cope with and better understand the grief I now experience after the passing of my life partner. J. William Worden's Grief Counselling and Grief Therapy is a comprehensive and scientifically well-grounded handbook that is also humane and free from dogmatism. Worden helps both students of (e.g.) medicine, psychiatry and social work - and the grieving reader - to begin to understand the sheer complexity and unpredictability of the greving process within a broad interpretative framework. Above all, Professor Worden helps the reader distinguish between 'normal' and 'abnormal' grieving.

I was looking for a book to help me get a clearer picture of what kind of grief reaction it to be expected and what I can do as a counsellor. While a lot of it was fairly obvious and what I had learned elsewhere I value this book because it is a comprehensive collection of almost all I need to know on the subject. I especially benefit from the authors knowledge on grief in children.For those who look for a book on methods of grief counselling and therapy this is a definately a recommended reading, especially as it questions some of the older views on grief that had been brought forward by Freud.

This is a very well-written book that explains the theory behind grieving process and then offerspractical advice for the therapist to use in session.

I'm currently studying to be a Cruse bereavement volunteer after suffering many deaths (old and young) over the past 20 years and borrowed an old version of this book from our Cruse branch. I loved it so much I bought this updated version. Not only is it a fantastic reference guide for those of us studying grief and bereavement but it's written in such a clear and sensitive way it would be helpful for anyone struggling to understand their own grief or the grief of others. I can't recommend it highly enough.