Book Summary: The Grief Recovery Handbook

John W. James and Russell Friedman (1998), in The Grief Recovery Handbook, argue that with correct information and correct choices, a person can recover from any significant emotional loss no matter how traumatic that loss might be. James and Friedman (1998) advance the concepts of grief recovery, outlining in their text a sequential process for coming to terms with a great emotional upheaval due to death, divorce, and other losses. The text is divided into three main sections, each of which moves the reader from acknowledging the existence and nature of the problem, to preparing for change and the recovery process, and finally the solution.

The first section of the book is titled "Seeing the Problem" and contains five individual chapters. James and Friedman (1998) assert that many people fail to recognize that grief involves a process which must be experienced, assimilated, and overcome if one is to return to a state of emotional and psychological well-being. Grief recovery is presented as a set of actions and attitudes and the authors also recognize that anger, frustration, and other negative emotions are inevitably experienced by the grieving individual.

James and Friedman (1998) also comment that for the most part, individuals are ill prepared to deal effectively with loss. People are taught how to acquire things and how to develop relationships with others, but are not taught what to do when possessions or relatio

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ocess. A partner can be someone who has suffered an intense emotional loss and may be another family member. In any event, James and Friedman (1998) contend that working with a partner is the best approach to completing the grieving process because empathy and support reduce the sense of isolation and alienation that most people feel after a great loss. Homework assignments facilitate the partnership, which James and Friedman (1998) see as based on total honesty, absolute confidentiality, and recognition of the uniqueness and individuality of each person's recovery. Such assignments include creating lists of the socially inculcated myths that shape the grieving process, reviewing false ideas and thoughts and establishing a set of objectives that will shape and inform the grieving process. The authors present a description of short-term energy reliving behaviors (STERBs) that create an illusion of recovery while simultaneously causing the individual to forget or bury emotions. These STERBs obfuscate one's emotions and may lead to damaging behaviors such as overconsumption of food, alcohol, and/or drugs, becoming overly focused on work, engaging in inappropriate sexual activities, shopping to excess, and becoming fixated
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Approximate Word count = 2207
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)