Moving Through Grief: Proven Techniques for Finding Your Way After Any Loss

by Gretchen Kubacky

Overcoming your pain—proven strategies for grief recovery

Coping with loss is difficult, but that doesn’t mean you have to suffer alone. Based on the proven-effective acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) treatment, Moving Through Grief provides simple and effective techniques to help you get unstuck and start living a rich and fulfilling life again, loss and all.

ACT is all about embracing what hurts and committing to actions that will improve and enrich your life. Whether you’re dealing with the loss of a loved one, your health, home, or even career, Moving Through Grief provides you with creative exercises that will help you work through your pain and reconnect with the things you love.

Moving Through Grief

Rediscover positive feelings—Learn how you can show up for your life and experience joy and satisfaction again, even as you work through the pain of your loss.Grief recovery toolbox—Discover how the six tools of ACT—values, committed action, acceptance, being present, cognitive defusion, and self-as-context—can ease your pain and aid with the healing process.Easy-to-use advice—Make real progress towards feeling like yourself again with straightforward exercises, like identifying your values and setting realistic goals.Find out how ACT can change the way you relate to your pain with Moving Through Grief

Genres: Psychology, Mental Health, Nonfiction

150 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 26, 2019

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love ACT, so when a therapy client of mine suddenly lost her husband and I needed resources to help support her, this one jumped out at me. It's a great overview of ACT in general, in addition to having some good action steps for someone trying to move their life forward after a loss. I personally wouldn't recommend this to a client in sudden, "new" grief, because it might feel invalidating to have so much of the focus be on moving forward. However, for someone who has done the initial phase of heavy grieving (however long that lasts), and now feels lost to know what's next, this could be a valuable asset to that journey.

If you are grieving yourself and looking for resources, I highly recommend searching for a trained therapist who specializes in grief. Be choosy, because not all mental health professionals are very good with grief (and some are especially bad). Find someone who will hold space for you to feel and strike the balance that feels right to you between acceptance and change. If you are in earlier phases of grief and don't feel prepared for many action steps, the last chapter of this books have some good steps to find support. If that's all you do right now, that huge. And I'm sorry that you've found yourself in a place that requires looking at reviews for books on grief. 💗

[Glenn Harden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short and practical book to help one overcome any kind of grief. The tools in this book will also likely be useful to anyone living under the generalized sadness and hopelessness we call depression.

The book draws on the scientific literature but presupposes that we make our own meaning so that no story we tell ourselves is any more true than any other. Grounding one's healing journey in the love of God thus falls under our "values" or the beneficial practices of spiritual communities. That's OK in that not everyone believes in God, but I wonder: if it is ultimately up to me to work through my grief and live into my values, will I be able to do? That seems like a lot of pressure.

So when you're ready to move to the next stage of your healing journey, read this book, but don't only read this book.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this with clients in mind in the hope it my distil some helpful strategies or theory for their grief. I found as a self-help workbook it would only really suit a small minority of people. There are so many exercises it would require a lot of self-motivation which may be hard to generate when bereaved. One exercise I did like was to look at grief stereotypes or platitudes and what might be the opposite of them (although I think I'd prefer to look at them compassionately instead).

[Mon Zamarripa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para alguien que siempre ha sido estructurada y racional, este libro me dio elementos para intentar trabajar el duelo desde un orden, que al final no es así la cosa! pero está lleno de ejercicios con los que se puede comenzar a trabajar, el que más te acomode y haga sentido...todo lo que se haga en este proceso está bien, lo importante es eso: intentarlo.

Sentir mucho, pensar poco, moverte y estar abierto a lo que la vida te va llevando. Eso me ha ayudado este año.

[Jo Nell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a little confusing, starting with values first without providing a better introduction about grief. The author doesn't really get into grief until half way through the book, and even then, not much. I don't think the author makes it clear how grief and values relate to each other. Still, it's not a bad book if values are what you're interested in.

[Robyn Obermeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very encouraging. Of course its hard to read and understand but the exercises definitely help! I absorb what I can and try to live in the present and understand my core values.......

[Johanna Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it would be a good self-help book.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives practical and realistic ways to deal with grief by accepting your feelings instead of pushing them away. I immediately felt confidence in the author's voice, because the ideas in this book ring true and show a lot of common sense. I admire how the chapters are organized in a progression of healing that leads the reader into deeper living with healthy emotions.

Beginning with basic self-care and reconnecting with relationships in your life, this book addresses defining your core values that keep you anchored through tough times, and gently moves the reader into reassessing the "story" they tell themselves about their life. I really loved the chapters about the "observer self" and how we can remain detached from untrue thoughts that threaten to disconnect us from the reality of our grief.

This book teaches that by accepting our grief, we can finally move past it to have a vibrant and happy life. Our grief is still part of us, but it doesn't have to hold us back. In fact, it can make us stronger, more compassionate, and more connected to others and to our true selves.

One of the best things about this book are the meditations, journal prompts, and exercises for the reader to use in their journey of healing. I really love that this book doesn't just give abstract ideas, but uses concrete examples of how a feeling might be expressed, how a small step can make a huge difference, or how we can "flip the story" to pull ourselves out of a downward spiral.

The only thing missing from this book is God. We can't hope to truly heal from our grief without the help and wisdom of our Creator. After all, He wrote the blueprints for humanity, and He knows our deepest joys and sadness. If this book had included a chapter on prayer, then it would have covered all the bases. I would recommend reading this book along with a Christian book on grief too.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

[Mary Vogelsong · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book dispenses psychological advice and advocates verious exercises to get over your grief. These exercises include journaling, being curious, looking at your situation in a different way (your story is really just words and pictures), being curious, and spending time with other people. Perhaps the most recommended exercises are types of meditation.
I didn't find this book useful for myself. I like the idea of journaling, and have found value in it in the past. But I am not a fan of meditation as it is used here. If meditation is your cup of tea, you may find this book to be a helpful resource for your grief, or any situation you don't like.