Alan D. Wolfelt Livres

An estimated eight percent of Americans are thought to be suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder at any given time. Many are victims of or witnesses to violence. Others have been neglected of abused. Some have experienced a traumatic accident or natural disaster. Still others have experienced the sudden and perhaps violent death of someone they love. No matter the cause, PTSD results in symptoms of acute stress, including anxiety, persistent thoughts or flashbacks, and a host of other physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual challenges. In this guide for counselors and caregivers, Dr. Alan Wolfelt reframes PTSD as a form of grief. Helping PTSD sufferers mourn their unacknowledged and “carried” grief over the traumatic events that caused their symptoms is the key to helping them heal. Rather than seeking to quickly treat away symptoms of PTSD, caregivers who follow Dr. Wolfelt’s “companioning” philosophy will instead see the natural and necessary PTSD symptoms as indications that the sufferer needs additional support and encouragement to express himself. This holistic new approach acknowledges clinical PTSD treatments as part of the solution while emphasizing that authentic mourning is the primary and most essential healer.

Exploring the complexities of grief, this book encourages readers to embrace their painful emotions as a manifestation of love for those lost. It challenges conventional notions of closure, addressing various aspects of mourning, including complicated and traumatic grief, grief overload, and feelings of loneliness. The second edition expands on the original content, introducing insights on the significance of rituals and other contemporary grief topics, fostering a deeper understanding of the grieving process.

Focusing on the importance of companionship in the grieving process, this handbook offers a blend of counseling strategies and insights into genuine empathy. It presents 11 tenets designed for caregivers and loved ones to support those in mourning. Key principles emphasize understanding pain, active listening, allowing silence, respecting emotional turmoil, and fostering curiosity over authority. These guidelines aim to create a nurturing environment that honors the mourner's experience while facilitating healing.

This companion workbook to the second edition of Dr. Wolfelt's bestseller Understanding Your Grief helps you explore the many facets of your grief through guided journaling. After you read a section in Understanding Your Grief, the journal asks you questions about what you've just read. It invites you to consider, clarify, and jot down your thoughts and feelings. A good grief journal is a safe place of solace--somewhere you can express yourself no matter what you are experiencing. If you're grieving a death or a significant loss of any kind, this journal and its companion text will help you understand and embrace your grief, actively mourn, and move toward healing. You'll find that the journal can also be used to help honor the person who died and/or work through any lingering relationship issues. As you express your emotions in this journal, you will feel them beginning to soften as well as become more integrated into your ongoing life. Write as much as or as little as you'd like. Even just a little engagement with this journal will help you befriend your grief and give you healing momentum.

Focusing on the needs of those supporting the grieving, this resource emphasizes the importance of listening and compassion. It guides friends, family, and caregivers on how to provide meaningful support, including maintaining regular contact and acknowledging significant anniversaries. The volume offers practical, sensitive suggestions for immediate actions that can help while respecting the mourner's feelings. It serves as a compassionate guide for anyone looking to be a true companion during a difficult time.

Half of all men and one-third of all women in the United States will develop cancer during their lifetimes, according to the American Cancer Society, and on top of the pain and struggle that patients have to face, a cancer diagnosis can also profoundly affect the lives of their loved ones. Friends and family members who may not know what to do, what to say, or how to help an individual diagnosed with cancer will find guidance and comfort in this book that helps them understand the normal and natural grief their loved one is experiencing. The basic process of grief and mourning is explained, and suggestions are provided for things readers can do to help their friend or family member not only survive, but thrive. Regardless of the type or stage of cancer, the treatment plan, or the prognosis, this compassionate guide will help readers be good companions throughout the journey that is cancer.

We don't only experience grief after a loss--we often experience it before. If someone we love is seriously ill, or if we're concerned about upcoming hardships of any kind, we naturally begin to grieve right now. This process of anticipatory grief is normal, but it can also be confusing and painful. Life is change, and change is hard. This book will help see you through.

"Compassionate advice and simple activities to help you through your grief after miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or other early pregnancy loss"--Cover

According to the American Cancer Society, more than one million people get cancer in the United States each year. The diagnosis is often a major physical, emotional, social, and spiritual blow, capable of shaking patients to their core. This empathetic guide coauthored by cancer survivor Dr. Alan Wolfelt helps individuals understand and cope with the many difficult thoughts and feelings to which a cancer diagnosis can give rise, assisting them as they find ways to experience peace and joy throughout their journey. Among the 100 ideas for surviving and thriving in this book are those that explain the basic principles of grief and mourning and how they apply to a life-altering, life-threatening, or terminal medical diagnosis. Others offer instantaneous, in-the-moment suggestions of things that cancer patients can do immediately in order to express their grief and live with meaning in each moment. This book is a calming companion for people battling cancer and their loved ones.

Anger in grief is natural. It's normal to feel anger and other explosive emotions such as hate, blame, terror, resentment, rage, and jealousy after the death of someone you love or another significant life loss. Yet it's challenging to experience these feelings day after day. And it can be hard knowing what to do about them. Allowing them to seethe and build up inside you is not the answer. Neither is lashing out at people who care about you. This book will show you how to understand and express your anger and other explosive emotions in restorative ways. Learning to be with your anger and soothe it will not only help you on your healing journey in grief, it will also give you tools for living the remainder of your days with less suffering and more joy. If you are angry, let us begin.