Grief Dreams: How They Help Us Heal After the Death of a Loved One

by T. J. Wray, Ann Back Price

Overview

A program for using dreams as a tool for healing loss

The universal experience of grief dreams can help us heal after the death of a loved one. T.J. Wray and Ann Back Price show how dreams can be uplifting, affirming, consoling, and inspiring. The authors guide readers in ways to understand and value their dreams, how to keep a grief dream journal, and how to use dreams as tools for healing and consolation. This book is designed to help mourners reclaim some measure of power in navigating the most difficult journey of their lives. And, because it is helpful for any type of loss, Grief Dreams is an ideal condolence gift.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470907542
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	02/04/2005
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	312,905
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Dr. T. J. Wray is assistant professor of religious studies at Salve Regina University. She is the author of Surviving the Death of a Sibling: Living Through Grief When an Adult Brother or Sister Dies. She is the creator of www.griefdreams.com and www.adultsiblinggrief.com.

Ann Back Price is a Jungian psychoanalyst and clinical teaching associate in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island.

Table of Contents

Preface.

Introduction: Why a Book About Grief Dreams?

1. The Journey of Grief.

2. About Dreams.

3. The Visitation Dream.

4. The Message Dream.

5. The Reassurance Dream.

6. The Trauma Dream.

7. Other Types of Grief Dreams.

8. Faith and Grief Dreams.

9. How Grief Dreams Help Heal Us.

Reader Resources.

Selected Sources.

About the Authors.

Editorial Reviews

After the death of a loved one, most people dream about the dead person. Wray (Surviving the Death of a Sibling) and Jungian analyst Price argue that there are four basic categories of grief dreams-the visitation dream, in which the deceased simply spends time with the griever; the message dream, in which counsel is given; the reassurance dream, in which the dreamer feels comforted about the fate of the dead person or her own ability to cope; and the trauma dream, in which the dreamer relives some unpleasant aspect of the death or of experiences with the dead person in life. Suggestions are then given for using the messages of these dreams and for understanding the nature of the grieving process. The book does a good job of presenting the material in a straightforward fashion without succumbing to a simplistic one-two-three view of bereavement; it also maintains strict neutrality on questions about life after death. Patricia Garfield's The Dream Messenger: How Dreams of the Departed Bring Gifts of Healing covers the same topic but is more rigid, arguing that there is basically one kind of dream about the deceased and that the grief process consists of several distinct stages. This book is definitely an improvement. Recommended for most public libraries and grief collections.-Mary Ann Hughes, Neill P.L., Pullman, WA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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