Table of Contents
Introduction xiii
SECTION I—Stages of Grief 1
Exercise I.A Stages of Grief: Getting Located 6
Exercise I.B Identifying Your Feelings 9
SECTION II—Accommodation and Adjustment 13
Exercise II.A These Early Days 16
Exercise II.B Expressing Yourself 19
Exercise II.C This Loss in My Life 22
Exercise II.D Barriers to Adjustment 25
SECTION III—Acceptance 26
Exercise III.A Rite of Passage 30
Exercise III.B I Still Can’t Believe It 33
Exercise III.C Remembering the Day 36
Exercise III.D I Choose to Overcome Grief 39
SECTION IV—Support 42
Exercise IV.A The Day After 45
Exercise IV.B The Right Help at the Right Time 48
Exercise IV.C Recognizing Support 51
Exercise IV.D Checkpoint: Support 55
SECTION V—Sharing 57
Exercise V.A The Faces of Sharing 60
Exercise V.B The Faces of Your Community 63
Exercise V.C The Gift of Sharing 66
Exercise V.D Checkpoint: Sharing 69
SECTION VI—Understanding Feelings 71
Exercise VI.A Your Feelings 74
Exercise VI.B Your Thoughts About Your Feelings 77
Exercise VI.C How Do You Feel Right Now? 80
Exercise VI.D Triggers 84
Exercise VI.E Watching Your Feelings 87
Exercise VI.F Owning Your Feelings 90
SECTION VII—Coping with Feelings 92
Exercise VII.A How Do You Cope? 95
Exercise VII.B What You Do Is Who You Are 98
Exercise VII.C One at a Time 102
Exercise VII.D Checkpoint: Coping 105
SECTION VIII—Finding Meaning 107
Exercise VIII.A The Quality of Life 110
Exercise VIII.B Meaning in Your Life 113
Exercise VIII.C The Ingredients of Meaning 116
Exercise VIII.D Personal Meaning 119
Exercise VIII.E Fragments of Meaning 122
Exercise VIII.F A Fridge Poem 126
SECTION IX—Biography 128
Exercise IX.A I Want the World to Know 131
Exercise IX.B A 10-Minute Biography 133
Exercise IX.C A Quick Sketch 136
Exercise IX.D An Important Possession 139
Exercise IX.E Checkpoint: Biography 142
SECTION X—Shared History 144
Exercise X.A Our Relationship 147
Exercise X.B I Remember 150
Exercise X.C An Important Day 152
Exercise X.D Life Markers 156
Exercise X.E I’ll Never Forget 161
SECTION XI—Memories and Remembrances 163
Exercise XI.A Telling Tales 167
Exercise XI.B A Scrapbook 171
Exercise XI.C A Trip in Time 174
Exercise XI.D A Visit through Time 177
Exercise XI.E Commemorating Your Loved One 180
SECTION XII—Unfinished Business 182
Exercise XII.A Thinking about Unfinished Business 186
Exercise XII.B Expressing Your Feelings 189
Exercise XII.C Regrets 194
Exercise XII.D Unfinished Business 197
SECTION XIII—Relationships 199
Exercise XIII.A Current Relationships 202
Exercise XIII.B Evolving Relationships 206
Exercise XIII.C Remaking Relationships 210
Exercise XIII.D Moving On 213
Exercise XIII.E Checkpoint: Relationships 216
SECTION XIV—Moving On 218
Exercise XIV.A Decisions, Decisions, Decisions 221
Exercise XIV.B Making Decisions 224
Exercise XIV.C If Only You Knew What’s Inside of Me Now 228
Exercise XIV.D A Goodbye Letter 231
Exercise XIV.E I’ve Learned 234
Bibliography 237
About the Downloadable Assignments 239
