Working with Grief and Traumatic Loss

Book excerpt: Working with Grief and Traumatic Loss: Theory, Practice, Personal Reflection, and Self-Care provides clinicians with a wide range of personal loss and grief examples from seasoned therapists while also considering grief through the lens of diverse cultural, religious, and theoretical perspectives. This unique text shares practicing clinicians' personal journeys of loss in myriad forms, including spousal, child and parental death, suicide, genocide, mass disasters, loss of physical health, miscarriage and beyond, in order to strengthen the frameworks through which grief is viewed, help readers more deeply understand its global context, and emphasize the relevance of personal experience when engaging in practice. Opening chapters review historical and modern theories of grief and loss, bereavement, and mourning rituals, as well as current evidence-based interventions and promising new practice methods. Later chapters transition from theoretical constructs and current research to intimate, personal stories of loss from licensed therapists, such as psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and social workers who experienced loss while in practice. Readers are introduced to a wide range of perspectives on grief, loss, and death with emphasized viewpoints from worldwide religions such as Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, and countries such as Taiwan, Kenya, and Guatemala. Readers learn about the importance of integrating self-care into practice and discover strategies for continued self-reflection practices to maintain personal and professional health while simultaneously supporting clients through their grief journey. The book features classroom exercises and an annotated bibliography to facilitate additional learning opportunities. Working with Grief and Traumatic Loss is an ideal resource for social work, psychology, counseling, marriage and family, and grief and loss courses, as well as clinicians interested in deepening their practice. Elisabeth Counselman Carpenter is an assistant professor of social work in Southern Connecticut State University's School of Health and Human Services in New Haven, Connecticut. She is a licensed clinician in New York and Connecticut with an active private practice and also serves as a corporate and community trainer and legal consultant. Dr. Counselman Carpenter holds a Ph.D. from Adelphi University. Alex Redcay is an assistant professor of social work at Millersville University in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Dr. Redcay earned a Ph.D. in social work from Rutgers University and serves as an expert witness, trainer, therapist, program evaluator, and consultant for Serise Inc. (www.SeriseInc.com)