Nancy R. Hooyman and Betty J. Kramer's Living Through Loss is the first book to identify the many ways in which people experience loss over the course of life and to discuss the interventions most effective at each stage of life. It is intended for students, social workers, and other health and human service professionals who seek a definitive, single-source reference.
The authors' starting point is that loss comes in many forms and can include not only suffering the death of a person one loves but also giving birth to a child with disabilities, living with chronic illness, or being abused, assaulted, or otherwise traumatized. They approach loss from the perspective of the resilience model, which acknowledges the capacity of people to integrate loss into their lives, and write sensitively about the role of age, race, culture, sexual orientation, gender, and spirituality in a person's response to loss. The book begins with a concise introduction to current theories of loss and the concepts and goals that underlie the resilience model. The heart of the book follows-paired chapters that pinpoint the intersection of loss and a particular stage of life, along with evidence-based interventions appropriate to that period of life and congruent with a strengths perspective, from childhood to old age.
This is more than a comprehensive source on loss and grief. It is distinguished by the authors' beautiful use of clients' stories of loss - and their own - to make Living Through Loss definitive and indelible.
