Languages of Loss: A psychotherapist's journey through grief

by Sasha Bates Narrated by Tamsin Greig

Overview

One person, two perspectives on grief. Plunged unexpectedly into widowhood at just 49 years old, psychotherapist Sasha Bates describes in searing honesty the agonisingly raw feelings unleashed by the loss of her husband and best friend, Bill. At the same time, she attempts to keep her therapist hat in place and create some perspective from psycho-analytic theory. From the depths of her confusion she gropes for ways to manage and bear the pain - by looking back at all that she has learnt from psychotherapeutic research, and from accepted grief theories, to help her make sense of her altered reality.

Languages of Loss starts a necessary and overdue conversation about death and loss. It breaks down taboos and tries to find humour and light amidst the depressing, bewildering reality. It is an essential companion to help support readers through the agony of those early months, giving permission for all the feelings, and offering various methods of living with them.This book's overriding message is that everyone's experience of grief is different, but knowing more about the theory, and learning a new vocabulary, while not necessarily easing the grief, can help you feel less alone, and at some point enable you to reflect back and see how far you have come.

(P) 2020 Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A powerful blend of the personal and the professional.—Mishal Husain

This is a useful as well as a moving book. The writing is energetic, down-to-earth and bracingly honest, and many readers will feel consoled and enlightened by Bates's take on her experience. The therapist's reflections are fascinating, but what shines through is how much Bates loved Bill and how much she misses him.—Cathy Rentzenbrink, The Times

Reading this book, I'm in the hands of someone I would want to be my side for the traumas of life - however small they seem, or big they loom.—Kirsty Wark

This is the most startlingly honest book about grief I have ever read. Its immediacy hits you on the first page and takes you on an unforgettable journey. No one has set out so clearly the stages we go through as we try to come to terms with facing the enormity of death.—Dame Penelope Wilton, DBE

What a challenge. And what an achievement. Your book is simply amazing and so authentic. Thanks for sharing your heartfelt story and developing acceptance.—Jane Harris, co-founder of the Good Grief Project

A really powerful book. I hadn't read a book before that melds the professional, as a psychotherapist, and the personal, as someone that lost their partner. Sasha's book covers the course of one year since she lost her husband Bill, where she describes how she feels and tries to apply what she has learnt as a therapist. She explores the times when that really exposes the shortcomings of grief counselling, and how incapable anything is really at helping you navigate this absence. I've never read anything like that, a mixture of the practical and the emotional.—Pandora Sykes

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173377678
Publisher:	Octopus Books
Publication date:	04/02/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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