Saturday, May 13, 2023

Review of "The Long Grief Journey" by Pamela D. Blair and Bradie McCabe Hansen

There is very little analysis or insight in this work.  It seems to be a compilation of generally acceptable, but very common and pedestrian, advice about grief.  Any time the material gets you into an area and asks if the reader is having difficulty with a certain topic, the suggestion is to see a counselor or therapist.  This is possibly good advice, but not particularly helpful in a book.

In addition, the title, and the introduction, indicate that they are primarily interested in prolonged grief.  While long time periods are mentioned, fairly often, none of the material seems to be specific to prolonged or long-term grief, as opposed to any other kind of grief.  The result is a fairly banal and commonplace collection of observations about grief, with no real pitfalls, but with no particular value either.

A great many processes, exercises, or rituals are suggested in the body of the text.  Unfortunately, most of these exercises or rituals have little to do with the problems that they are supposed to address.  They may be of significance, to the authors, as rituals that they enjoy, but, in terms of addressing the specific problems in the chapter in which they are placed, they have no real purpose.  (A lot of the rituals are fairly newage-y.  The candle manufacturers should probably pay Blair and Hansen a marketing fee.)

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