As seen in THE NEW YORK TIMES - READER'S DIGEST - SPIRITUALITY & HEALTH - HUFFPOST

Featured on NPR's RADIO TIMES and WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO

When a painful loss or life-shattering event upends your world, here is the first thing to know: there is nothing wrong with grief. Grief is simply love in its most wild and painful form, says Megan Devine. It is a natural and sane response to loss.

So, why does our culture treat grief like a disease to be cured as quickly as possible?

In It's OK That You're Not OK, Megan Devine offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others who have endured tragedy. Having experienced grief from both sides--as both a therapist and as a woman who witnessed the accidental drowning of her beloved partner--Megan writes with deep insight about the unspoken truths of loss, love, and healing. She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, happy life, replacing it with a far healthier middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it. In this compelling and heartful book, you'll learn:

- Why well-meaning advice, therapy, and spiritual wisdom so often end up making it harder for people in grief
- How challenging the myths of grief--doing away with stages, timetables, and unrealistic ideals about how grief should unfold--allows us to accept grief as a mystery to be honored instead of a problem to solve
- Practical guidance for managing stress, improving sleep, and decreasing anxiety without trying to fix your pain
- How to help the people you love--with essays to teach us the best skills, checklists, and suggestions for supporting and comforting others through the grieving process

Many people who have suffered a loss feel judged, dismissed, and misunderstood by a culture that wants to solve grief. Megan writes, Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution. Through stories, research, life tips, and creative and mindfulness-based practices, she offers a unique guide through an experience we all must face--in our personal lives, in the lives of those we love, and in the wider world.

It's OK That You're Not OK is a book for grieving people, those who love them, and all those seeking to love themselves--and each other--better.

Dr. Cacciatore is featured in the 2021 documentary series The Me You Can't See, from Oprah, Prince Harry, and Apple TV.

Bearing the Unbearable is a Foreword INDIES Award-Winner -- Gold Medal for Self-Help.
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When a loved one dies, the pain of loss can feel unbearable--especially in the case of a traumatizing death that leaves us shouting, NO! with every fiber of our body. The process of grieving can feel wild and nonlinear--and often lasts for much longer than other people, the nonbereaved, tell us it should.

Organized into fifty-two short chapters, Bearing the Unbearable is a companion for life's most difficult times, revealing how grief can open our hearts to connection, compassion, and the very essence of our shared humanity. Dr. Joanne Cacciatore--bereavement educator, researcher, Zen priest, and leading counselor in the field--accompanies us along the heartbreaking path of love, loss, and grief. Through moving stories of her encounters with grief over decades of supporting individuals, families, and communities--as well as her own experience with loss--Cacciatore opens a space to process, integrate, and deeply honor our grief.

Not just for the bereaved, Bearing the Unbearable will be required reading for grief counselors, therapists and social workers, clergy of all varieties, educators, academics, and medical professionals. Organized into fifty-two accessible and stand-alone chapters, this book is also perfect for being read aloud in support groups.

Now available as an online course from the Wisdom Academy and as a journal in Bearing the Unbearable: A Guided Journal for Grieving.

These were no sugar-coated blessings. They minimized none of the pain and bewilderment that came in the wake of a wrenching death. With these blessings, Jan entered, instead, into the depths of the shock, anger, and sorrow. From those depths, she has brought forth words that, with heartbreaking honesty, offer surprising comfort and stunning grace.

Those who know loss will find kinship among these pages. In these blessings that move through the anguish of rending into the unexpected shelters of solace and hope, there shimmers a light that helps us see we do not walk alone.

From her own path of grief, Jan offers a luminous, unforgettable gift that invites us to know the tenacity of hope and to recognize the presence of love that, as she writes, is sorrow's most lasting cure.

As humans, we all have one thing in common: death. But are you prepared for it? How about your parents and your spouse? You may not like to think about it, but avoiding it will not solve the problems you or your loved ones leave behind.

Would you be able to answer the following questions without hesitation right now?

• If a loved one asked you to get their affairs in order, would you know where to start?
• Do both you and your spouse know how many bank accounts you have and the account numbers?
• Do you know where your car's certificate of ownership papers are?
• If you were to check your spouse's keychain, would you know what each key opens?
• What is your spouse's password to get into their computer?
• What company is your homeowner's insurance policy with?
• And much more.

Whether you, your spouse, or your parents are dying, this book will walk you through what needs to be done practically before, during, and after death.

WAIT-Don't Die Yet! is a step-by-step guide for adult children and spouses who are either preparing for death or preparing for someone else's. This book covers the basics of what you need to do to get your affairs in order, while also teaching you the mundane tasks you must complete in or around the time of death. A comprehensive tool that empowers rather than depresses you, this helpful approach allows you to deal with the practicalities of death while offering the hands-on guidance you need to make sure you have time to grieve.

BONUS: With WAIT-Don't Die Yet!, you'll also gain access to a printable guidebook that helps you complete all of the necessary tasks you need before and after saying goodbye. It's practical. It's honest. And it's a way for you to grieve in peace.

From psychotherapist and leading grief expert Meghan Riordan Jarvis comes answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about grief, offering hopeful real-world lessons and practical steps for navigating loss.

If you've experienced the trauma of loss, you might find yourself struggling with the whys of grief: Why can't I remember anything? Why can't I sleep? Why do I feel angry and isolated? Why do I suddenly dislike my friends? Psychotherapist and grief specialist Meghan Riordan Jarvis shares a research-based resource filled with clinical insights to these questions and more, along with practical steps for navigating loss. Though each experience is unique, we all grieve in our bodies, says Meghan. By recognizing grief as a kind of trauma, we better understand why our mind and body respond in sometimes perplexing ways to loss.

In this accessible guide, Meghan provides the answers you're seeking on the grieving process, offering profound real-world stories and hopeful lessons, informed by neuroscience and biophysical science. Whether you're grieving or are supporting someone who's going through loss, you'll find valuable insight. From sorting through the physical materials left behind to honoring the experience of continuing bonds, Meghan breaks things down into manageable bites as a series of commonly asked questions on the brain, body, emotions, sense of self, relationships, timeline expectations, and how to get the right support. Here you'll explore:

- Answers to the most frequently asked questions about the grieving process
- Explanations for what you're going through
- Guidance, tips, support, and practice ideas for grievers and their support network
- For grievers: assessment of symptoms and history with loss
- For supporters: potential offerings for support that feel most authentic
- Ways to engage and move through the experience

Grief and loss are inevitable parts of life. What you're going through is normal, and becoming grief-informed will help you begin to feel less confused and alone. Whether you're currently grieving or are looking to support a loved one, here is guidance to uncover the answers to why and discover what you can do to help.

We are often urged to rely only on ourselves for strength, mental fortitude, and positivity. But with her distinctive skill, wit, and sharp insight (Laura Bates, author of Girl Up), Soraya Chemaly challenges us to adapt our thinking about how we survive in a world of sustained, overlapping crises.

It is interdependence and nurturing relationships that truly sustain us, she argues. Based on comprehensive research and eye-opening examples from real-life, The Resilience Myth offers alternative visions of relational hardiness by emphasizing care for others and our environments above all.

Emergency services personnel are truly valuable assets to every community and city. They enter into the worst situations, establish control, provide aid, and right the wrongs. The work of public safety is challenging and at times overwhelming. Being a first responder can take a significant toll on those who serve. Code Four: Surviving and Thriving in Public Safety is a survival guide for first responders. Designed to normalize what first responders face and to offer solutions, this book is written to teach public servants how to care for themselves and how to implement the necessary cultural changes to improve mental health in emergency services.

You'll Get Through This speaks directly to both the heart and the head, acknowledging the multifaceted nature of human suffering. Through poignant anecdotes and practical wisdom, the author guides you through the gyrations of the head-heart seesaw, offering strategies to slow down the turmoil and emerge from adversity stronger than ever before.

Author Barry Gridley demonstrates:

- How the head-heart seesaw makes you think you are losing your mind

- The five ways personal pain distorts your perspective

- What tools you can use to move through suffering, not merely survive it or stay stuck in it

- How to look for what God is doing in your life when you are suffering

Are you ready to embark on a journey of profound transformation? This book will equip you with the courage, insight, and faith necessary to not only weather the storms of life but to emerge from them with renewed hope and resilience. Embrace the opportunity to grow through suffering and discover the profound beauty that can emerge from life's most challenging trials.

Practical skills grounded in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to help you bounce back when life knocks you down.

Whether it's the loss of a loved one or a job, the end of a relationship, a pandemic, or a natural disaster--nothing really prepares us for those moments when life hits hard and turns our world upside down. The good news is that you can move forward. There are tools you can use to find your way back from despair and live a fulfilling life.

In this candid self-help guide, psychotherapist Russ Harris offers powerful and doable skills grounded in evidence-based ACT to help you recover from grief, loss, and crisis; transcend your pain and suffering; and build a rich and meaningful life--even in the face of adversity. You'll also find tools to help you deal with painful memories, create your own healing grief rituals, and transform difficult emotions into unexpected allies.

Finally, you'll learn how mindfulness and self-compassion can help keep you grounded, even when it seems like your world is in free fall. If you're ready to start building the resilience needed to heal from loss or thrive in the face adversity, this guide will show you how to get there, one step at a time.

From INDIES Gold Medal Award-Winner and Wisdom Bestseller Joanne Cacciatore

If you love, you will grieve--and nothing is more mysteriously central to becoming fully human. This book is a companion to carry with you throughout your day, to touch in with and be supported by when bearing the unbearable pain of a loved one's death--whether weeks or years since their passing. Our culture often makes the bereaved feel alone, isolated, broken, and like they should just get over it--this book offers a loving antidote. Open to any page and you'll find something that will instantly help you feel not alone, while honoring the full weight of loss.

This book is comprised of quotations from Bearing the Unbearable, and other sources as well, plus an enormous amount of new material from Dr. Jo. Especially well-suited for the grieving mind that may struggle with concentration, just 30 seconds on any page will empower, hearten, and validate any bereaved person--helping give strength and courage to bear life's most painful losses.

Praise for Bearing the Unbearable

This masterpiece is the greatest gift I could give to someone entrenched in grief, or to the loved ones of the bereaved.--The Tattooed Buddha

Simply the best book I have ever read on the process of grief.--Huffington Post

Anyone who's trying to deal with a loss, or anyone who knows someone dealing with a loss, (and in truth, isn't that everyone?) will benefit from reading this amazing book.--Foreword Reviews

It offers hope for those who feel like their loss has disconnected themselves forever from humanity and the circle of life.--Doug Bremner, MD, professor of psychiatry, Emory University and author of You Can't Just Snap Out of It

This is a holy book, riddled with insight and compassion.--Francis Weller, author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow

The third edition of the Handbook of Thanatology is an accessible volume that offers essential knowledge in the field of thanatology in a format that is practical for both novices and those with extensive experience in the field. Using ADEC's Body of Knowledge Outline, the editors guided authors for this third edition of the Handbook to elaborate on the content baskets suggested by the Outline's headings. Like the Outline, this edition of the Handbook is comprehensive but not exhaustive. Initial chapters emphasize foundational topics including definitions of death, death-related attitudes, the epidemiology and demography of death, end-of-life care, and memorialization. The middle chapters focus on grief theories, distinct conceptualizations and considerations of grief based on cause of death, and problematic grief. The volume concludes with chapters highlighting the broad topics of death education, professional practice, history of the field, social presentations of death, and non-death losses.

Stress and trauma are inherent in the public safety professions. When first responders are impacted by the negativity they encounter, their family members are often impacted as well. Yet somehow, the needs of families are often discounted or overlooked completely. First Responder Families: Caring for the Hidden Heroes was written to help families understand what to expect during turbulent times and to give them tools to mitigate stress and trauma. In this book, Dr. Tania Glenn writes not only as a clinician with over twenty-eight years of experience working with first responders, she also writes as a loved one of a public safety professional. Tying together the clinical knowledge and insight to create this book has been one of the most inspiring things she has done.

When Black people mourn, it is not only for the passing of loved ones. As a community, Black people will also be mourning the systemic inequalities, racial prejudices and oppressions we experience daily.

The stories and poems in this anthology illuminate the unique ways loss affects the Black community, and the effects of the widespread lack of understanding of traditional rituals and beliefs. They show us how experiences of collective loss during the pandemic, the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire and ongoing systemic health inequalities are experienced not just as individuals but also as part of a global community. Contributors from a range of backgrounds, professions, and identities discuss the challenges of grieving under the shadow of continuing adversity, including threats of deportation. Sources of strength and healing are also explored, from personal and spiritual responses to community initiatives and activism.

Poignant and inspiring, these are stories we all need to read, and provide us with insights into lives and losses which are all too often misunderstood and sidelined.

First responders are one of our most valuable resources. Today, they are facing unprecedented levels of trauma, chaos, isolation, and violence. Now, more than ever, the mental health of our public safety members has to be a priority. First responders across the United States and around the world have been hit with significant stress, violence, and chaos. The current situation has pushed many first responders too far and with as much as they can take.

The time for change is now. This is a book about change. This is a book about caring for hearts and minds and getting it right. This book applies to everyone, from top leadership down to the front line. Agencies and first responders alike need to lean into the concept of mental health for first responders and get serious about their care. Now more than ever.

Smashing the Stigma and Changing the Culture in Emergency Services, Tania Glenn's latest book, delivers a clear road map to assist everyone who wants to create change and bring about healing for public safety personnel.

A Short Course in Happiness After Loss brings to us a powerful intersection of the science of positive psychology and the wisdom necessary to thrive when facing life's harshest moments. In poetic, compassionate and yet fearless language, Sirois traverses the territories we most fear--death, exile, disease--and carefully lights pathways toward a happiness that includes the scars of our suffering and the bounty and goodness present within our world. Her work offers each of us, no matter the trials of our lives, a template for rising through pain into a steady, resilient and open heart, one capable of facing sorrow and loving fully and laughing richly anyway.

A Short Course in Happiness After Loss deserves a place on your shelf next to When Things Fall Apart, Broken Open, and The Year of Magical Thinking. --Mark Matousek

Maria gives us permission to confront suffering directly, while reminding us of our resilience, capacity to love, and our ability to endure. --Richard M. Berlin

Wise, real, and clear, this book offers a way into what we all have to do sooner or later--live alongside death.
--Megan McDonough

The beat of the heart is structured, not improvised; it is a perpetual non-fleeting pulse spanning all human life until it is the last rhythm produced in our own conscious existence. Listening to the final beats of my father's heart - his last eternal live music performance gave me a chance to reflect on the blood within me, the blood that pumps through my own heart, my roots, my lineage, my musical individuation. Bearing the deep sadness of the death of my father at the forefront with a global pandemic gripping the world, social hostility, and political divide - the heartbeat gave a new meaning, something deeper and more personal, impacting my existential inquiry on the power of music and the human condition. This book shares stories of the heart and offers an invitation for creative reflection and music listening that supports the reader's journey in considering how music in the heart can influence your own personal story, identity, health, and wellness.

A year-long journey by the renowned psychiatrist and his writer wife after her terminal diagnosis, as they reflect on how to love and live without regret.

Internationally acclaimed psychiatrist and author Irvin Yalom devoted his career to counseling those suffering from anxiety and grief. But never had he faced the need to counsel himself until his wife, esteemed feminist author Marilyn Yalom, was diagnosed with cancer. In A Matter of Death and Life, Marilyn and Irv share how they took on profound new struggles: Marilyn to die a good death, Irv to live on without her.

In alternating accounts of their last months together and Irv's first months alone, they offer us a rare window into facing mortality and coping with the loss of one's beloved. The Yaloms had numerous blessings--a loving family, a Palo Alto home under a magnificent valley oak, a large circle of friends, avid readers around the world, and a long, fulfilling marriage--but they faced death as we all do. With the wisdom of those who have thought deeply, and the familiar warmth of teenage sweethearts who've grown up together, they investigate universal questions of intimacy, love, and grief.

Informed by two lifetimes of experience, A Matter of Death and Life is an openhearted offering to anyone seeking support, solace, and a meaningful life.

In the groundbreaking The Seasons of Our Grief, author Dr. Ray Mitsch challenges the notion of a linear, sequential progression of grief and unveils a transformative alternative-a cycle of seasons within the grieving process. Dr. Mitsch introduces us to two individuals who traverse this journey, illuminating the path through their poignant stories, which portray grief as a series of seasons, each requiring a unique tool to assist in the passage. In this cyclical view, growth becomes intertwined with healing.

You will learn the tools essential for each season:

- Winter: grappling with the reality of what you've lost

- Spring: dealing with reawakened emotions

- Summer: recognizing the holes left behind

- Fall: accepting the bittersweetness of moving on

The Seasons of our Grief is an empathetic guide, offering solace, insights, and tools for anyone grappling with loss.

Grief is hard, it is uncomfortable and it has an unknown timeline. Taking care of yourself and those around you can help ease the pain and bring moments of joy and hope. It is my hope the suggestions in this book are helpful to you, reader, and helpful to those you care for.