Bereavement: Counseling the Grieving Throughout the Life Cycle

In this book Dr. Crenshaw does a masterful job of explaining how Grief is experienced over the life span. What can be expected by children, teens and adults and how to provide support to them. This is a book that will be useful to all therapists. A wonderful resource to have.

Bereavement: Counseling the Grieving throughout the Life Cycle is a compact little book that covers the basics of grief counseling. Author David A. Crenshaw Ph.D. presents his theory of the tasks of mourning that must be accomplished in order for the grieving individual to attain a healthy resolution to the loss. These tasks appear to owe an acknowledgement to the five stages of grief proposed by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Crenshaw goes on to apply his seven tasks to six identified life cycle stages: preschool children, school-age children, adolescents, young adults, adults in midlife, and the elderly, using abbreviated case histories as examples. The book provides an overview of the grieving process and some basic suggestions for interventions with people in the various age groups. It does not, however, give the amount of in-depth information and hands-on detail that would be required to help a counselor develop proficiency in counseling the bereaved. In attempting to cover such a wide array of populations in a small book, Crenshaw sacrifices specificity. The longest chapter is devoted to the preschool aged child with the main thrust of his recommendations being monologues that the counselor delivers to the child. He only minimally mentions play therapy, arguably the most effective type of therapy for children in this age group. This reviewer finds the omission of play therapy techniques for the bereaved child to be the most serious lack in this book. Bereavement is an interesting and highly readable book that gives some good basic information. The counselor interested in developing effective grief resolution therapy skills would do well to use this book as a starting point from which to begin building her skills and then follow it with more in-depth publications devoted to the specific population she is counseling. Reviewed by: Kathleen C. Higgins, M.S., LPC Mental Health Counselor

Most of us who work in the caregiving professions received little training in our professional education for dealing with death and loss issues. For the most part, we got even less help in understanding the way clients' "stages of life" affected their bereavement.Enter Crenshaw's book, one of the best "little" books around for people like us. In quick, practical fashion, Crenshaw provides the "quick and dirty" on grief, introducing the reader to how normal bereavement works.Then, he proceeds to describe the major factors likely to affect a bereaved person's experience according to his/her place in the life cycle. If the book has a shortfall, it is that it tries to do too much for too many. This is an excellent starting point for professionals for whom grief counseling is a part--though not a major part--of their responsibilities. As such, clergymen, nurses, hospice staff, family therapists, and social workers will find a wealth of useful information here. I would also recommend it for volunteers in hospices, nursing homes, communities of faith, and the like.There are better books for people who need a "what do I do now" approach (such as Jeanne McIntee To Comfort and To Honor) or for parents who are wanting more detailed information about their children in grief (such as Helen Fitzgerald's The Grieving Child: A Parent's Guide). For its purpose, however, I think Crenshaw's book is pretty hard to beat.