No One Has to Die Alone : Preparing for a Meaningful Death

by Leary, Lani; Watson, Jean

• ISBN13: 9781582703527
• ISBN10: 1582703523
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-10
• Publisher: Atria Books/Beyond Words

Summary

The experience of caring for a loved one through terminal illness and eventual loss can be incredibly isolating and emotionally overwhelming. No One Dies Alone offers accessible insights, practical tools, and personal stories to provide a sense of community, profound relief, and deep meaning for both caregiver and patient through illness, death, and bereavement. The first half of No One Dies Alone focuses on caregiving, while the second half focuses on the grieving process, including an entire chapter on how to compassionately support the unique needs of children through the grieving process. Each chapter is written to stand alone, allowing readers to reference any chapter and apply that information to their unique challenge.

Author Biography

With over twenty-five years of experience as a psychotherapist working with chronically ill, dying, and bereaved clients, Dr. Lani Leary intimately understands the needs of both patient and caregiver. She is the author of the internationally bestselling audiotape Healing Hands, and has served as the director of mental health services at Whitman Walker AIDS clinic and as a professor of death studies at George Mason University. She currently writes a regular online column on healing after loss, Healing Tears for www.HealingTheSpirit.org.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xix
How to Use This Book	p. xxiii
Making a Difference through Illness, Dying, and Death	p. 1
Introduction: My Story	p. 3
How We Die Matters	p. 13
We Can Make a Difference	p. 25
Dying May Be Painful; Death Is Not	p. 55
Death Is Not the End	p. 69
We Can Cope	p. 79
Making a Difference through Bereavement	p. 97
Grieving Is a Process	p. 99
We Each Grieve in Unique Ways	p. 109
Children Grieve Differently than Adults	p. 131
Validation Is the Key to Resolving Grief	p. 149
We Can Find Meaning in Loss	p. 167
Recommended Resources	p. 183
Letters on Death and Dying	p. 185
Letters and Resources on Grief	p. 197
Resources and Notes for Caregivers (Professional, Family, Volunteer)	p. 223
Notes and Current Research on Near-Death Experiences	p. 227
Notes and Current Research on After-Death Communication	p. 237
A Caregiver's Breathing Meditation	p. 243
A Healing Meditation for Grief	p. 245
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