Healing Your Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas

by Alan D. Wolfelt

With sensitivity and insight, this series offers suggestions for healing activities that can help survivors learn to express their grief and mourn naturally. Acknowledging that death is a painful, ongoing part of life, it explains how people need to slow down, turn inward, embrace their feelings of loss, and seek and accept support when a loved one dies. Each book, geared for mourning adults, teens, or children, provides ideas and action-oriented tips that teach the basic principles of grief and healing. These ideas and activities are aimed at reducing the confusion, anxiety, and huge personal void so that living their lives can begin again.

Genres: Grief, Nonfiction, Self Help, Health

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I was widowed this year on January 25th. In the maze of learning to cope, I have sought out a few books that might help after I got through my numb stage. I was looking for practical suggestion to help me cope and mourn. This book helped me to understand the difference between grieving and mourning. And it is very helpful to know the difference when you have lost someone. This book has practical suggestions and is written in a very consoling manner. The author is a PhD who specialized in the area of grief counseling. It is a quick read that might be helpful to many who are trying to find their way out of the darkness.

[Melissa Cosgrove · Rating 1 out of 5]

Most of these “ideas” are extremely obvious (e.g. “cry” and “reach out to someone for help” and “drink water”). Many of them are simply repeats that have been rephrased: “meditate” and “practice breathing in and out” are the same thing — same with “plan a ceremony” and “plan or participate in a meaningful ceremony for the person who died” (yes, those are actually listed separately). All the praying/blessing/God stuff made me want to throw the book out the window. There were maybe 5 “ideas” in the whole book that appealed to me (or that I wasn’t already doing because they were so obvious), and I could not have done any of them at the peak of my grief, so that’s not very helpful. It’s also really weird that watching movies is listed but not reading, except for the pages that are just selling other books by this author (it’s even listed as “buy the book” instead of “read a book”—not a good look to be so self-serving in a book about healing from grief). Very weird to not recommend reading memoirs about grief but to plug your own books that are just glorified lists?? Also very weird to have “reconnect with an old lover” in here because WHAT. Like, yeah, here I am in the middle of a crisis, you know who I should call? My ex! Lmaoooo no fucking way, terrible advice.

This “book” is just a waste of 45 minutes.

[Sharon C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another helpful book by Alan D. Wolfelt. Nicely written with good, practical tips and thoughts on taking care of yourself while processing grief, loss, and ultimately healing. Recommended for anyone who's recently lost a loved one.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful and compassionate ideas to help those of us grieving the loss of someone special. Quick and easy read.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

These ideas really helped me during a time when I needed them most.

[Kara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely nothing here was useful to me. Perhaps 2 out of the 100 were things I needed to hear. Books I liked better: It’s OK that you’re not OK, and Bearing the Unbearable.

[Rhyena · Rating 4 out of 5]

A perfect bite of 100 ideas that a teen or adult could relate to!

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me such practical ideas on how to cope with the loss of my beloved Mother. I recommended this book and actually bought it and sent it to a friend who is now coping with tragic loss.
As a practical person, this book spoke to me by giving me easy and very practical ways to deal with my loss so very effectively. I recommend this book highly. Especially to people who are practical, logical and like to deal with things systematically. This boook will keep you grounded and let you know you are moving forward. It gives you ideas to keep a smile on your face even though you are dying inside. It makes you realize life must go on and you can with these practical tips.

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was an easy read and I have gone back to it multiple times. It has 100 practical ideas for helping you through your loss. It is wonderful to see all the small steps when you feel like you cant take any steps at all. I was happy because some of the steps i had already taken, so I felt like I was able to really start healing. To anyone who has lost someone I definitely recommend it. I recommend buying it and reading it soon after your loss but keeping it by your bedside when you are feeling overwhelmed you can pick one idea at a time to try.

[Carol McGillivary Rodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I needed to read when my husband died three months ago. I needed good practical information right then. Someone knowledgeable to put me on the right track until I could begin to find my way with help on this journey of grief. Any one of Alan Wolfelt's are good guides with current up to date information regarding grief and mourning.

[Margie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compassionate, supportive, easy to read and handle one page, one idea at a time.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ideas!

[Hollee · Rating 5 out of 5]

very helpful! Highly recommend to anyone dealing with a deep loss.

[Azzura 'hartwell']

Good practiced