Grief Is a Journey: Finding Your Path Through Loss

In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Kenneth Doka explores a new, compassionate way to grieve, explaining that grief is not an illness to get over but an individual and ongoing journey.<br><br>There is no &quot;one-size-fits-all&quot; way to cope with loss. The vital bonds that we form with those we love in life continue long after death - in very different ways. <i>Grief Is a Journey</i> is the first book to overturn the prevailing, often judgmental, ideas about grief, and replace them with a hopeful, inclusive, personalized, and research-backed approach. New science and studies behind Dr. Doka's teaching upend the dominant but incorrect view that grief proceeds by stages.<br> <br>Throughout <i>Grief Is a Journey</i>, Dr. Doka tells encouraging stories of his clients and other individuals, all working through unique losses. In doing so, he helps us realize that our experiences following a death are far more individual and much less predictable than the conventional &quot;five stages&quot; model would have us believe. Common patterns of experiencing and expressing grief still prevail, yet many other life changes accompany a primary loss. For example, the deaths of parents, even for adults, modify family patterns, change relationships, and alter old family rituals.<br> <br>Unique to this book, Dr. Doka also explains how to cope with disenfranchised grief - the types of loss that are not so readily recognized or supported by society. These include the death of ex-spouses, as well as non-fatal losses such as divorce, the end of a friendship, job loss, or infertility. In addition, Dr. Doka considers losses that might be stigmatized, including death by suicide or from disease or self-destructive behaviors such as smoking or alcoholism.<br> <br>Since no two people experience grief in the exact same way, <i>Grief Is a Journey </i>offers a variety of self-help strategies for coping with grief. It delineates the many ways we can create personal and private therapeutic rituals throughout our grief journey. This book also offers counsel on when - and where - to seek professional assistance. And finally, Dr. Doka reminds us that, however painful, grief provides opportunities for growth.