A new book on grief is making the rounds and inspiring a lot of productive conversation among those who provide support services to the grieving.
From what I have read so far of "The Truth About Grief", Ruth Davis Konigsberg is coming at this topic with a huge bias against any kind of grief support or counseling. On the surface it doesn't seem to be a particularly nuanced approach to a topic that by it's very nature is highly nuanced.
Grief is such a unique response for each person and each loss, that it's very difficult to make any kind of generalization about what is normal and what is not which is why the DSM folks most certainly will get it wrong. I'll leave that for another day.
I'm sure I'll have more to offer when I've finished the book but for now here is a response from one of the most well known advocates of grief counseling. He makes some very good points.
Dr. Wolfelt Responds to "The Truth About Grief"
This whole question of what kind of support the grieving need has been going on for decades, and it's one I've thought about a lot. Here are some articles I wrote long before Ms. Konigsberg published her book
Grief Counseling, Bad for You?
Do You Need to Experience Grief to Help the Grieving?
How to Find a Grief Support Group or Grief Counselor?
Let me know what you think...
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