Description
By Dianne & Mal McKissock
“…A beautiful and thoughtful alternative to sending flowers (or maybe as well)…”
If you don’t know what to do for a bereaved person or you don’t know what to say that will convey what you feel in response to their grief, Here is an answer – send them a copy of ‘In My Own Way – A Bereavement Journal’.
This book, written by Dianne & Mal McKissock who are respected internationally for their innovative work with bereaved people, contains information on the experience of grief and directions for using the journal as a helpful part of the process. “Beautiful to look at and inviting to use. In My Own Way is the most thoughtful and comforting gift that will continue to be there, helping recovery, long after the flowers have faded and friends have dispersed”
When someone very close to you dies, the first trauma of loss can be numbing, unreal. For a short time you are in the centre of a bustle of activity – friends gathering around with comforting words and flowers; the funeral; legal business.
Suddenly that’s all over, leaving in its place raw pain, confusion, waves of loneliness and despair. Recovery is just a word then, with little meaning for those whose emotions are in chaos.
To help people come to terms with their grief, two of Australia’s foremost bereavement counsellors – Mal McKissock and his wife Dianne – have conceived and designed this very special journal – Coping with Grief In My Own Way.
The concept is simple yet brilliantly effective. By encouraging the private, uninhibited expression of the bereaved person’s innermost thoughts and emotions, ‘the darkness is let out’ and the process of recovery helped immeasurably.
The McKissocks write,
“Bereaved people share many common experiences but the expression of grief is unique and very personal. We all need to grieve in our own way – without rules, without restrictions, without the need to meet the expectations of others.”
From their vast experience in counselling the bereaved, Mal and Dianne have recognised a need for people to be able to pour out their sadness, anger, love, guilt, regrets, fears – whatever emotions are causing them pain – as and when they want to; to work through the bereavement process at their own pace.
Coping with Grief In My Own Way helps us to answer this need. The opening pieces, written by the McKissocks, sympathetically reflect what is happening to and around the bereaved person and offer reassurance, gentle counselling and practical advice.
Following this section is the journal itself,
“It doesn’t really matter how soon or long after the death of the person you love you begin this process. Only that you begin on Day 1 of the journal and include the date of that day. You can stop and start anytime from there, just noting the date anytime you write….”
Although it may seem painful, writing actually allows the pain that already exists to come to the surface instead of being repressed.
Coping with Grief In My Own Way is a unique concept in grief therapy that will be welcomed as an invaluable addition to traditional bereavement counselling.
Beautiful to look at and inviting to use, Coping with Grief In My Own Way is the most thoughtful and comforting gift that will continue to be there, helping recovery, long after the flowers have faded and the friends have dispersed.
