Living Through Loss: Interventions Across the Life Span

by Nancy Hooyman, Betty Kramer, Sara Sanders

Overview

Living Through Loss provides a foundational identification of the many ways in which people experience loss over the life course, from childhood to old age. It examines the interventions most effective at each phase of life, combining theory, sound clinical practice, and empirical research with insights emerging from powerful accounts of personal experience.

The authors emphasize that loss and grief are universal yet highly individualized. Loss comes in many forms and can include not only a loved one’s death but also divorce, adoption, living with chronic illness, caregiving, retirement and relocation, or being abused, assaulted, or otherwise traumatized. They approach the topic from the perspective of the resilience model, which acknowledges people’s capacity to find meaning in their losses and integrate grief into their lives. The book explores the varying roles of age, race, culture, sexual orientation, gender, and spirituality in responses to loss. Presenting a variety of models, approaches, and resources, Living Through Loss offers invaluable lessons that can be applied in any practice setting by a wide range of human service and health care professionals.

This second edition features new and expanded content on diversity and trauma, including discussions of gun violence, police brutality, suicide, and an added focus on systemic racism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231550215
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	08/31/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	614,575
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Nancy R. Hooyman is the Hooyman Professor Emerita in Gerontology and dean emerita at the University of Washington School of Social Work. Her books include Social Gerontology: A Multidisciplinary Perspective, tenth edition (2017), and Aging Matters: An Introduction to Social Gerontology (2014).

Betty J. Kramer is professor emerita at the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is coeditor of Men as Caregivers: Theory, Research, and Service Implications (2001).

Sara Sanders is a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Iowa, where she also serves as the associate dean for strategic initiatives and director of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Theoretical Perspectives on Grief
2. The Grief Process and Types of Grief
3. Resilience and Meaning-Making
4. Loss and Grief in Childhood
5. Interventions for Grieving Children
6. Loss and Grief in Adolescence
7. Interventions for Grieving Adolescents
8. Loss and Grief in Young Adulthood
9. Interventions for Grieving Young Adults
10. Loss and Grief in Middle Adulthood
11. Interventions for Grieving Midlife Adults
12. Loss and Grief in Old Age
13. Interventions for Grieving Older Adults
14. Professional Self-Awareness and Self-Care
Notes
References
Index

What People are Saying About This

Colette V. Browne

An exquisitely written, well researched, compassionate, and definitive book on loss and grief for social workers and other practitioners. Hooyman and Kramer share their own poignant stories, reaching down to the deepest level of experience and loss, that serve to illustrate issues faced by bereaved individuals. The book is unique in its lifespan approach to common losses, its integration of the diversity of the human experience, and its focus on recent evidence-based interventions. The section on professional self-awareness and self-care offers concrete strategies for the prevention of some of the challenges in working with the bereaved. All professionals -- and I suspect others as well -- will benefit from this major achievement.

— Colette V. Browne, University of Hawaii, School of Social Work

Kenneth J. Doka

Living through Loss: Interventions Across the Life Span is destined to become a classic text. In this sensitively written and well researched work, Hooyman and Kramer blend cutting-edge theory, sound clinical practice, and empirical research with insights emerging from personal experience to create a gift for counselors and social workers. This book needs to be read by any social worker, counselor or clinician seeking to counsel anyone at any age living with loss.

Donald Schumacher

Loss is an experience that touches every one of us, regardless of culture, ethnicity, age, gender, or spiritual beliefs. Yet the way we respond is as individual as each of us. Living Through Loss examines many important aspects of loss and grieving that should be understood by all professionals offering support. What makes this book particularly relevant is the personal experiences of the authors that brings the discussion into focus in a very powerful and meaningful way.

— Donald Schumacher, president and CEO, National Hospice and Palliative Care Association

Grace H. Christ

A 'must read' text for social workers and a broad range of professionals who seek the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on this topic. The authors discuss the losses most frequently experienced at each stage, with a companion chapter on current interventions. The book features a sophisticated cultural competence, the latest theories and research findings, a wealth of helpful summary tables, and an exhaustive bibliography...Sets a gold standard for texts on this vital topic.

— Grace H. Christ, Columbia University School of Social Work

Editorial Reviews

At a time when people are reeling from the many losses dealt by the pandemic, the second edition of this book could not be timelier. The life span approach taken and interventions provided for each life stage impart a wealth of critical information and guidance to current and future clinicians.

Tracy A. Schroepfer

Living Through Loss is an important, timely, and compelling book that presents an evolved perspective of the universal experiences of loss and grief. This book is authentic, grounded, and written from the authors’ deep awareness and knowledge—leading the reader to a richer understanding of loss across the life course.

Deborah Waldrop

Uniquely, the authors interweave professional and scholarly knowledge with personal experience. As a clinician and teacher, I found myself tallying up my own losses and acknowledging reverberations of old sorrows. The overall effect is a sense of being grounded in the midst of great complexity—a gift both to the scholar and the clinician.

Wendy Lustbader

This is an excellent resource... Highly Recommended.

Choice

Invaluable. . . . It was written for social workers, but its insights, information, and practical application will be helpful for a range of professional workers who come into contact with people who are grieving a significant loss.

Journal of Social Work

This book is both a mine of information and provides an enormous amount of food for thought and reflection. Highly recommended.

International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care News - Roger Woodruff

Provides a comprehensive overview of grief theory, a review of losses experienced at different points in our lives, and evidence informed interventions. This timely text would provide an excellent introduction for practitioners working with bereaved people as well as be highly practical for a course textbook that students would be able to return to later once in practice.

Journal of Gerontological Social Work

This second edition of a splendid book explores the pervasiveness of loss in multiple forms (death and non-death). The authors examine loss in terms of a range of theoretical understandings and provide approaches to intervention that consider social, cultural, and environmental contexts and influences. This is a rich addition to the consideration of loss.

Allan Cole

This book is both a mine of information and provides an enormous amount of food for thought and reflection. Highly recommended.

— Roger Woodruff, Director of Palliative Care, Austin Health, Melbourne, Australia

International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care News