Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy, Fourth Edition: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner

by J. William Worden PhD, ABPP

Overview

Named a 2013 Doody's Core Title!

"In the fields of death education, research and counseling/psychology, surely Bill Worden is a giant....ALL of us, personally and professionally, are indebted to J. William Worden. From his work we may be just a bit wiser, a bit healthier, a bit more competent, and a lot more in touch with meaning (our own and those of others) for the sake of all who mourn." --Illness, Crisis, & Loss

"Every helping professional will profit from Worden's treatment of uncomplicated and complicated mourning. Especially hopefully is his material on the many types of loss...I highly recommend Worden's book."--Ministry

Recipient of The International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement Herman Feifel Award.

Dr. Worden presents the highly anticipated fourth edition to Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy, the gold standard of grief therapy handbooks. The previous editions, translated into 12 languages, received worldwide acclaim for their sensitive, insightful, and practical approach to grief counseling. In this updated and revised fourth edition, Dr. Worden presents his most recent thinking on bereavement drawn from extensive research, clinical work, and the best of the new literature.

Key Features:

• The task model has been modified to account for new thinking and research findings in the field, including meaning making, resilience, and continuing bonds
• A new chapter on the Mediators of Mourning helps clinicians to understand what accounts for individual differences in adapting to the death of a loved one
• Looks at recent controversies in the field including the best way to understand complicated bereavement and the efficacy of grief counseling and therapy
• Presents the vital distinction between grief and trauma, and highlights different intervention approaches for each

Comprehensive and highly organized, this text is useful to therapists just beginning to work in the field as well as seasoned practitioners.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826101211
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	08/11/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

J. William Worden, PhD, ABPP, is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and holds academic appointments at the Harvard Medical School and at the Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology in California. He is also Co-Principal Investigator of the Harvard Child Bereavement Study, based at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Recipient of 5 major NIH grants, his research and clinical work over 40 years has centered on issues of life-threatening illness and life-threatening behavior.

Read an Excerpt

chapter

Table of Contents

"Preface
Introduction
1. Attachment, Loss, and the Experience of Grief
2.Understanding the Mourning Process
3.The Mourning Process: Mediators of Mourning
4. Grief Counseling: Facilitating Uncomplicated Grief
5.Abnormal Grief Reactions: Complicated Mourning
6.Grief Therapy: Resolving Complicated Mourning
7.Grieving Special Types of Losses
8.Grief and Family Systems
9.The Counselor's Own Grief
10.Training for Grief Counseling
"

What People are Saying About This

Colin Parkes Parkes

Worden has brought a critical and discerning mind to bear.... His delineation of "the tasks of mourning" is a masterly and original summation, and the ways by which we can help others to grow through grieving are clearly described. (From the Foreword by Colin Murray Parkes, UK edition)

From the Publisher

J. William Worden, PhD, ABPP

"The Fourth Edition of this book retains all the theoretical strengths and clinical wisdom of past editions, while incorporating emerging theories and cutting-edge research. It is required reading for any counselor, educator, or researcher who wishes to understand grief."
— Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, Professor, The Graduate School, The College of New Rochelle, Senior Consultant, The Hospice Foundation of America

"I can't think of a thing Worden has missed."
— Stephen Fleming, PhD, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University Toronto, Ontario Canada

"[If] you knew Worden's work and his writings previously, you'll find an enhanced book with a much broader and challenging perspective than his previous editions. If you are not familiar with Bill Worden, then it is time to begin."
— Ben Wolfe, MEd, LICSW, Fellow in Thanatology, Program Manager/Grief Counselor, St. Mary's Medical Center's Grief Support Center Duluth, MN, Past President, Association for Death Education and Counseling

"For any hospice or therapist working with the bereaved, Grief counseling and grief therapy is an essential part of your library. Once again Worden has demonstrated the important distinction between counseling and therapy for the bereaved."
—Stephen R. Connor, PhD, Vice President for Research and International Development, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization

Praise for the Previous Edition:

"This book is the 'Bible' for those involved in the field of bereavement work...It is a straightforward, tightly focused, practical, soundly reasoned, compact working text."
— William M. Lamers Jr., MD, The Lamers Medical Group

"There are many yardsticks by which we find a person to be a “giant.” In the fields of death education, research and counseling/psychology, surely Bill Worden is a giant....His four volumes span some 20 years. Each volume keeps the solid essentials that never really change, but get some buffing and polishing....Worden demands that we stay current and will not tolerate anything that hints of second best. The foundations stay, but the substance continues to evolve. So, with volume four we have a handy, well-stated review....ALL of us, personally and professionally, are indebted to J. William Worden. From his work we may be just a bit wiser, a bit healthier, a bit more competent, and a lot more in touch with meaning (our own and those of others) for the sake of all who mourn."

Richard B. Gilbert, PhD, CT, (D)AAETS
Faculty, Mercy College, New York
Faculty, Benedictine University of Illinois

William M. Lamers

This book is the 'Bible' for those involved in the field of bereavement work...It is a straightforward, tightly focused, practical, soundly reasoned, compact, working text. (William M. Lamers, Jr., MD., The Lamers Medical Group)

Editorial Reviews

If you had one book dealing with grief counseling available to you, this is the one you should select.

Caregivers Quarterly

Worden ... has again provided mental health professionals with a superb guide describing specific principles and procedures that may be helpful in working with bereaved clients undergoing normal or abnormal grief reactions ... an extremely practical book and an invaluable resource.

Contemporary Psychology

The process of grief counseling is outlined in this book describing what people experience following a loss, how to help people through their grief, how to tell the difference between uncomplicated and complicated grief, and how to treat complicated grief. Current developments in the field since 1991 are incorporated in this third edition, which adds seven "mediators of mourning" to the previous framework of four "tasks of mourning." There is new information on special types of losses such as sudden death, abortion, and suicide. Worden is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and holds academic appointments at Harvard Medical School and at the Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology. He has lectured and written on topics related to terminal illness and bereavement. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)