Loss and Growth: The Grief Spiral

by Elissa Bishop-Becker

Everyone faces grief at one point or another in her or his life. But how to handle it? Here, Elissa Bishop-Becker draws on her own experience to help others with an effective approach known as Transformative Bereavement. Walking the reader through the four stages -- Loss, Return, Reconnection, and Creation -- she draws on stories from her clients, friends, and contacts to explain the process of recovery from grief.

372 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2013

Reviews

[Dana]

Loss and Growth is a deeply important book about the grief process based on personal experience, scientific study, and hands-on research. Author Elissa Bishop-Becker offers a variation to the traditional 5 stages of grief pioneered by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Her concept is that grief does not follow a linear path, but is a spiral, and this cyclical shape rings true since most grievers understand there is no definitive end to loss. This book is filled with personal stories culled (with permission) from Bishop-Becker's clients that help inform the research. I would highly recommend this book to those in any stage of grief, as well as therapists whose clients will surely benefit from another approach.