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When You Don't Know What to Say, 2nd Edition: How to Help Your Grieving Friends by Harold Ivan Smith

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For those who have a friend that has been devastated by the loss of a loved one. When others care enough to rub shoulders with grieving friends and are willing to be inconvenienced. It requires someone to care enough to put aside cliche condolences and stick close through a long grieving process. An individual's grief can never be 'fixed'. But friends can wash a sink full of dishes, listen, go along on a cemetery visit. Sharing another's grief is not about 'fixing-it'- it's about showing up.Harold Ivan Smith, popular speaker and grief educator, guides others to respond with their heart. He shows tangible, meaningful ways to make a significant difference as one journeys through grief with someone they care about.

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Published January 1, 1792

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About the author

Harold Ivan Smith

67 books7 followers
Harold Ivan Smith, 1947-

Harold Ivan Smith, MA, ED.S., FT, DMin, is a national speaker, noted author, experienced counselor and grief educator. He has presented bereavement workshops across the country, training more than 20,000 professionals and lay caregivers during a thirty-year career. Seminar and conference attendees rave about interactions with Harold Ivan, and his insightful gifts of helping, healing, and facilitating grief.

A prolific writer, he has authored dozens of books and resources, included best seller, A Decembered Grief: Living with Loss When Others are Celebrating. Also among his titles are Griefkeeping: Learning How Long Grief Lasts; ABCs of Healthy Bereavement; Grievers Ask, When You Don’t Know What to Say; When Your Friend Dies; Finding Your Way to Say Goodbye: Comfort for the Dying and Those Who Care for Them; and Grieving the Death of a Father. His newest book, Using Biographical and Historical Grief Narratives With The Bereaving (Routledge).

He is also an authority of the griefs of American Presidents and First Ladies. He facilitates Grief Gatherings, an innovative storytelling program at Saint Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, where he is a member of the teaching faculty. Harold Ivan is active in the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and is designated a Fellow in Thanatology (FT).

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for Andy Hickman.
7,393 reviews51 followers
June 20, 2015
Resourceful.

Pastors enjoy a privilege open to no other professional: the privilege of entering the homes of families during their very intimate experiences. Harold Ivan Smith calls pastors and lay ministers “grief sharers”. They are ones who are looking for opportunities to actively care, whether it be a listening ear or washing a sink full of dishes. It is not an issue of “fixing” but rather “showing up” to offer a helping hand and come alongside.
89 reviews2 followers
April 21, 2013
A wonderful, quick read that may help the reader with his/her grieving as much as it helps him/her help others through their grieving.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews

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