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Essay / Book Review Finding Grace with Grief by Tasha Holland-kornegay
Grief is a monster. It's bad enough to lose something or someone we care about, but having to go through a process of acceptance and moving on is the icing on the cake of pain. Fortunately, much work has been done on how to deal with grief, with the five stages of grief developed by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross being one of the most widely accepted methods. The five stages of the Kübler-Ross model – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance – are much better known than the formal name given to the process, but what exactly happens during these stages and how to overcome them? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Finding Grace with Grief by Tasha Holland-Kornegay, PhD, LPCS is a workbook that helps people move through the five stages of grief. This 42-page paperback book is divided into five stages, each with five days of work to complete. Each day, readers are given a bit of text explaining the stage of grief and how the included exercise will help them, followed by the exercise itself with plenty of blank space for readers to work. If we used this book every day, we could potentially overcome our grief in less than a month! I really enjoyed the layout of this book. Even though it's mostly black and white, the author does a good job of applying a little color here and there. The daily chunks of text do a good job of explaining what a person might be feeling, and each exercise is unique to the day. For example, the first day of denial requires you to explain your loss before the second day becomes more specific, using a word bank of potential emotions to choose from and go into more detail. Day three asks you to find physical stress in your body and mark it on a rudimentary body chart, day four asks you to clarify what you are struggling with, and day five is a bit of meditation guided. The other stages are just as varied and each exercise takes on its full meaning. I also loved that the book applied to all types of grief. This is just as applicable to someone whose parent, spouse or pet has died as it is to someone whose house was burned down or whose phone was destroyed. The author is encouraging and written in a way that is both easy to understand and follow. Although I found four grammatical errors (three of which were on a single page), the writing was fluid enough that I was able to read the book quickly. The author also mentions that the five stages of grief do not necessarily occur in any particular order and that although the book is presented in a specific order, each stage of grief is distinct. You could go through them in any order without getting confused or missing anything. Finally, although I didn't hate any of the exercises, there were three that I particularly enjoyed. Exercise 8 (Anger Day 3) explains that when grieving it is easier to get angry or upset about certain things, but it is also difficult for friends and family to know what a grieving person wants or needs. The exercise asks readers to list "things that frustrate or upset you when approached by others" and then write "a list of things people might say and do to help you feel supported and comforted.” I feel like this would be helpful for all kinds of people, like people with anxiety or depression. Another.