Healing Grief, Finding Peace: Daily Strategies for Grieving and Growing

by Louis E. LaGrand

"Dr. LaGrand's advice and recommendations reach from and to both heart and head ... a powerful and important lesson about grief � that even in grief, we can still grow." � Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, senior consultant, Hospice Foundation of America

Through Your Loss Comes The Strength to Grow

Whether the death of a loved one is sudden or follows a long battle with illness, there is no way to prepare for the loss of someone close. Grieving is painful, but you have a choice in how you cope with grief and � most importantly � how you adapt to the intense loss you've experienced.

Grief counseling expert Dr. Louis LaGrand describes 101 tips and prescriptions to help mourners through their tragic loss. His specific coping strategies offer practical advice, ultimately giving you pathways for achieving lasting inner peace by using the one thing you can control � your own response to grief.

Heal your inner grief and find peace by:
*Starting each day with an affirmative action
*Establishing a grief or worry time
*Planning in advance for birthdays, anniversaries, and important holidays
*Learning to enjoy new routines
*Letting go of "if onlys" and "what ifs"
*Never ruling out happiness

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Grief, Death

306 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

For more than 40 years, Dr. LaGrand worked as a certified grief counselor and led workshops around the world to help people cope with the loss of a loved one. He was a member of the grief support team for the TWA disaster off Long Island in 1996. He graduated from the State University of New York at Cortland where he was a standout basketball player. Dr. LaGrand also held advanced degrees from Columbia University, Notre Dame and Florida State University. He was a highly regarded and much sought-after international speaker, giving lectures at companies, schools, hospices and health agencies.

Reviews

[Karin Grice · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my reading I've found two categories of books dealing with grief: first-person accounts and coping books. Each has value for the grieving person. However, the books most likely to help you move on in a positive and healthy way are those in the second category. "Healing Grief, Finding Peace" is just such a book. It is practical and realistic. It assures you that what you feel and think is perfectly normal, no matter what others say. It is a HOPEFUL book: you have choices and you will not always feel burdened with sadness. To guide you through all the challenges of losing someone, the author gives you 101 suggestions to restore well-being, covering all aspects of your emotional, mental, and physical life. Highly recommended.

[Emily Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it was an emotional read, it provided a variety of perspectives of what grief could look like and what coping strategies are available to get one through the day. The author was able to put into words the thoughts and feelings that were difficult for me to describe. In this, it helped me further understand why my grief was where it was. Being an atheist myself, these descriptions validated the loss of my loved one without promising a better life for them. With that being said, there were passages that were religious and new age-y and at one point felt like religion was being pitched to the reader. Regardless, there's such a variety of strategies in this book, I was able to find what fit my needs.

[Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was initially put off by the title of this book. It just sounds like a really cheesy self-help collection of lists. But it's not that way at all. LaGrand gives practical and varied ideas for coping with grief and loss.

I have really enjoyed and benefited from the wise counsel found in this book on grief recovery. The advice is pithy and just short enough for a morning devotional. I will almost miss reading it, but I'm sure I will be dipping back into it as the need arises. Enough ideas are given that it is easy to keep what works for a given situation and to drop the stuff that doesn't apply.

One thing I especially liked was LaGrand's emphasis on spirituality and religion -- without it being in my face all the time.

A most worthwhile read.

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot of this book I didn't read, as I've already put a lot of these suggestions into practice. There were some really good ones in here though, that I hadn't come across yet. This book, especially the end, has value in helping us all live a more positive life, regardless of whether you're coping with grief.

[Jean Brazil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best grief book I have read. It provides (as the title states) a multititude of grief actions. Some were not right for me, but many are good ideas. I will keep this one and refer back to it frequently.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice blueprint of ideas to help draw out, manage, and address your grief. Very general. As a widow it did not speak to me on a deep level. As a young widow, I felt a little left out but that being stated a nice book with a lot of ideas to help those who are grieving.

[Lisa]

Very insightful, I borrowed this book from the library and then bought a copy.

[Kim McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great reference guide for those grieving the loss of a loved one. I liked that it was written in a format of easily digestible points/chapters to read here and there and not necessarily all at once. It contains a lot of excellent quotes I highlighted to remember.

[Rqlreyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful

[Elyse P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful, thoughtful and insightful, especially because LaGrand is writing from the viewpoint as a psychologist AND as a person who has experienced a lot of grief himself. Some of his tips didn't apply to me personally, but would definitely be helpful for other family members. I read this as an e-book and would like to purchase a paper version so I can earmark and highlight certain sections and refer back to them.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really helpful book and I recommend it for anyone who's lost someone special. The advice is practical and concrete yet also accounts for spirit and heart. I intend to reread it as I go through the coming months and years in my new reality.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a helpful, concise book that probably has some tool for dealing with grief for everyone. The author provides a variety of coping methods.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leans a little too heavily on spiritual answers that may not work for every reader, but the suggestions for coping are wise and practical, for the most part.