Grief and God: When Religion Does More Harm Than Healing

Grief and God: When Religion Does More Harm Than Healing PDF Author: Terri Daniel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780962306204
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description

Grief and God: When Religion Does More Harm Than Healing

Grief and God: When Religion Does More Harm Than Healing PDF Author: Terri Daniel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780962306204
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 176

Get Book Here

Book Description


I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die

I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die PDF Author: Sarah J. Robinson
Publisher: WaterBrook
ISBN: 0593193539
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Embracing Death

Embracing Death PDF Author: Terri Daniel
Publisher: O Books
ISBN: 9781846943607
Category : Death
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
EMBRACING DEATH examines common mythologies and misconceptions about death, and provides a roadmap to alternative perceptions via meditation, visualization and after-death communication. Using these innate, intuitive tools, Daniel leads her audience to new ways of understanding death, and offers innovative strategies for navigating the dying and grieving process. Her inspiring, heart-opening vision of birth, death and the afterlife gently guides the reader into the higher realms, where death is experienced as neither an enemy nor an ending, but simply the continuation of life in another form. She begins this journey by exploring the fear-based beliefs about death that are the cornerstone of Judeo-Christian thinking, and then submits a compassionate array of more empowering, less frightening alternatives. As a channeler, Daniel looks at death from the perspective of the dead and dying,

Grief Doesn’t Do Math

Grief Doesn’t Do Math PDF Author: Heather H Burwell M.Div.
Publisher: WestBow Press
ISBN: 1664244689
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 62

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Book Description
Grief Doesn’t Do Math offers comfort and connection, while embracing a personal way to experience and endure the grieving process on one’s own terms. Grief Doesn’t Do Math envisions a wider lens for grievers beyond the renowned five stages. This book includes journal entries, poems, and reflections written over the course of seven years by author Heather H. Burwell as she experienced her own journey of grief. Grief is a nonlinear process and something we all encounter in our lives, a burden that can be eased through sharing. As noted in the epilogue, “This is my grief virgin voyage, and I share with you for a sole reason: to help other people sitting in their dinghies in torrential rainstorms, tossed upon similar waves.”

Stuff That Needs To Be Said

Stuff That Needs To Be Said PDF Author: John Pavlovitz
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578682501
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
Over the past few years, John Pavlovitz's blog, Stuff That Needs To Be Said, has become a virtual hub for millions of people from all over the world, drawn there by his clear, compelling words on compassion, equity, love, and justice. This expansive, like-hearted community transcends race, orientation, gender, religious tradition, political affiliation, and nation of origin--and finds its affinity in the deeper place of our shared humanity, which is the True North of his writing. This collection lovingly pulls together some of John's most widely-read and most beloved essays on faith, politics, grief, and the elemental parts of being human. It is an encouraging, inspiring, challenging storehouse of "stuff that needs to be said."

If God Is So Good, Why Do I Hurt So Bad?

If God Is So Good, Why Do I Hurt So Bad? PDF Author: David B Biebel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781939267832
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
In this powerful book, Biebel leaves behind the all-too-familiar platitudes and instead offers the unvarnished truth about the pain of illness, death, divorce, financial ruin, and more. With keen insight and a Christian outlook, Biebel puts God right by your side to help you sort through your hurt and see the value in your trials. His real-life examples and honest approach will help you turn pain into a meaningful journey toward hope and happiness. "This book saved my life," one bereaved father said. A young woman wrote, "I kept this book on my nightstand. Late at night, when I was alone and afraid, I could feel its presence hanging over me like a lightly floating sheet making me feel safe." Over the past twenty-five years, this book has brought comfort and hope to hundreds of thousands of the author's fellow pilgrims on the way of suffering. Now, this major revision is even more practical and helpful for those who hurt and those who wish to understand. In these pages you will find: - Eight essential truths about pain and healing - Questions for personal reflection or group study - Insights into relevant biblical texts and themes - A pathway toward a deeper, more personal relationship with the One who shares our sorrows, and is acquainted with our grief One of the most profound, empathetic and beautiful books ever written on the subject of suffering and loss. - Sheila Walsh In this remarkable book, my friend Dave Biebel helps the reader understand exactly what's so good about God in the midst of suffering. - Joni Eareckson Tada

When Religion Hurts You

When Religion Hurts You PDF Author: Laura E. Anderson
Publisher: Baker Books
ISBN: 1493443151
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
"Anderson strikes a smart, balanced tone. . . . An exemplary guide to an understudied issue."--Publishers Weekly "An exposé of the dangers of high-control religions that makes it easier to recognize and resist religious abuse."--Foreword Reviews Religious trauma is something that happens far more often than most people realize. But religious trauma is trauma. In When Religion Hurts You, Dr. Laura Anderson takes an honest look at a side of religion that few like to talk about. Drawing from her own life and therapy practice, she helps readers understand what religious trauma is and isn't, and how high-control churches can be harmful and abusive, often resulting in trauma. She shows how elements of fundamentalist church life--such as fear of hell, purity culture, corporal punishment, and authoritarian leaders--can cause psychological, relational, physical, and spiritual damage. As she explores the growing phenomenon of religious trauma, Dr. Anderson helps readers embark on a journey of living as healing individuals and finding a new foundation to stand on. Recognizing that healing is a lifelong rather than a linear process, she offers markers of healing for those coming out of painful religious experiences and hope for finding wholeness after religious trauma.

Cultivating Love

Cultivating Love PDF Author: Ken McGill
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781505490855
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Cultivating Love When Secrets Surface is a book in the Cultivating Love book series, and is an in-depth exploration of how to deal with the discovery of unfaithfulness, with insight and practical exercises to help you make safe, informed and healthy choices regarding what direction you wish to take with your relationship. When Secrets Surface was written with a three-fold purpose in mind. First, to provide couples with help, insight and guidance after discovering that one partner in the marriage has been sexually unfaithful. Over the next few days, weeks and months after this discovery, one or both of you may have a myriad of questions that need to be asked and deserve to be answered. This workbook is written to provide you with practical and effective "tools" to guide you through this initial crisis and into topics you need to communicate about, in order to make clear and informed decisions about the direction you may wish to take with your relationship. This is the first purpose of this workbook. Second, it was written to provide couples with guidance and tools to work through this devastating experience to determine if their marriage is salvageable, and if so, to illuminate suggested but necessary steps to take to engage in a process to heal, rebuild and renew your marriage. Third, although When Secrets Surface is a "stand alone" resource to help you and your spouse, the materials are also created for you to work on and share with your Individual or Group Psychotherapist, or your Pastoral Counselor, or other important "teammates" who you deem are safe, knowledgeable and therapeutic, as matters of the heart, soul, mind and spirit deserve therapeutic and empathetic responses to facilitate your healing and growth. Cultivating Love When Secrets Surface and all of the books in the Cultivating Love series are great resources for individuals, couples, people who are challenged with compulsive and problematic behaviors and are a great counseling resource for Counselors, Pastors, Pastoral Counselors, Clinicians and College students. Other books in the Cultivating Love series are: 1. Enhancing Communication: Effective communication tools to facilitate dialogue, empowerment and conflict resolution. This is a staple in my counseling practice. 2. Renewal in Your Life and Your Marriage: Is for couples who have decided they wish to rebuild their relationship, and this workbook provides the couple with practical, effective and clinical "tools" to assist them in their process of defining and growing healthy, safe and edifying behaviors that will produce love, and strengthen and protect their marriage. 3. Finishing Strong is a book in the Cultivating Love book series, where the focus of this book is to address problematic or compulsive sexual behavior in the lives of men and women. 4. Growing Character: Identifying, exploring and cultivating values that help you to determine how you wish to live your life. Thank you for your consideration of the Cultivating Love book series, and for considering purchasing Cultivating Love When Secrets Surface. Dr. Ken McGill, LMFT Certified Sex Addiction Therapist

Ambiguous Loss

Ambiguous Loss PDF Author: Pauline BOSS
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674028589
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
When a loved one dies we mourn our loss. We take comfort in the rituals that mark the passing, and we turn to those around us for support. But what happens when there is no closure, when a family member or a friend who may be still alive is lost to us nonetheless? How, for example, does the mother whose soldier son is missing in action, or the family of an Alzheimer's patient who is suffering from severe dementia, deal with the uncertainty surrounding this kind of loss? In this sensitive and lucid account, Pauline Boss explains that, all too often, those confronted with such ambiguous loss fluctuate between hope and hopelessness. Suffered too long, these emotions can deaden feeling and make it impossible for people to move on with their lives. Yet the central message of this book is that they can move on. Drawing on her research and clinical experience, Boss suggests strategies that can cushion the pain and help families come to terms with their grief. Her work features the heartening narratives of those who cope with ambiguous loss and manage to leave their sadness behind, including those who have lost family members to divorce, immigration, adoption, chronic mental illness, and brain injury. With its message of hope, this eloquent book offers guidance and understanding to those struggling to regain their lives. Table of Contents: 1. Frozen Grief 2. Leaving without Goodbye 3. Goodbye without Leaving 4. Mixed Emotions 5. Ups and Downs 6. The Family Gamble 7. The Turning Point 8. Making Sense out of Ambiguity 9. The Benefit of a Doubt Notes Acknowledgments Reviews of this book: You will find yourself thinking about the issues discussed in this book long after you put it down and perhaps wishing you had extra copies for friends and family members who might benefit from knowing that their sorrows are not unique...This book's value lies in its giving a name to a force many of us will confront--sadly, more than once--and providing personal stories based on 20 years of interviews and research. --Pamela Gerhardt, Washington Post Reviews of this book: A compassionate exploration of the effects of ambiguous loss and how those experiencing it handle this most devastating of losses ... Boss's approach is to encourage families to talk together, to reach a consensus about how to mourn that which has been lost and how to celebrate that which remains. Her simple stories of families doing just that contain lessons for all. Insightful, practical, and refreshingly free of psychobabble. --Kirkus Review Reviews of this book: Engagingly written and richly rewarding, this title presents what Boss has learned from many years of treating individuals and families suffering from uncertain or incomplete loss...The obvious depth of the author's understanding of sufferers of ambiguous loss and the facility with which she communicates that understanding make this a book to be recommended. --R. R. Cornellius, Choice Reviews of this book: Written for a wide readership, the concepts of ambiguous loss take immediate form through the many provocative examples and stories Boss includes, All readers will find stories with which they will relate...Sensitive, grounded and practical, this book should, in my estimation, be required reading for family practitioners. --Ted Bowman, Family Forum Reviews of this book: Dr. Boss describes [the] all-too-common phenomenon [of unresolved grief] as resulting from either of two circumstances: when the lost person is still physically present but emotionally absent or when the lost person is physically absent but still emotionally present. In addition to senility, physical presence but psychological absence may result, for example, when a person is suffering from a serious mental disorder like schizophrenia or depression or debilitating neurological damage from an accident or severe stroke, when a person abuses drugs or alcohol, when a child is autistic or when a spouse is a workaholic who is not really 'there' even when he or she is at home...Cases of physical absence with continuing psychological presence typically occur when a soldier is missing in action, when a child disappears and is not found, when a former lover or spouse is still very much missed, when a child 'loses' a parent to divorce or when people are separated from their loved ones by immigration...Professionals familiar with Dr. Boss's work emphasised that people suffering from ambiguous loss were not mentally ill, but were just stuck and needed help getting past the barrier or unresolved grief so that they could get on with their lives. --Asian Age Combining her talents as a compassionate family therapist and a creative researcher, Pauline Boss eloquently shows the many and complex ways that people can cope with the inevitable losses in contemporary family life. A wise book, and certain to become a classic. --Constance R. Ahrons, author of The Good Divorce A powerful and healing book. Families experiencing ambiguous loss will find strategies for seeing what aspects of their loved ones remain, and for understanding and grieving what they have lost. Pauline Boss offers us both insight and clarity. --Kathy Weingarten, Ph.D, The Family Institute of Cambridge, Harvard Medical School

Either Way, We’ll Be All Right

Either Way, We’ll Be All Right PDF Author: Eric Tonjes
Publisher: NavPress
ISBN: 1641583223
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
Does God have a hope to offer us in times of pain? Can God meet and sustain us even if our circumstances don’t improve? One of the few guarantees in life is that we will suffer. Everything around us is broken. Each of us has an expiration date. A few years ago, Eric and his wife, Elizabeth, together with their young children, were confronted with this unavoidable reality when she was faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis. Shattered by grief, they began to wrestle with what it means to follow Jesus when everything around them seemed to be giving way. What this pastor and his wife discovered were a set of truths about God from Scripture that provided the resources they needed to survive—truths too often neglected by the modern world. God meets us in our grief, but not always in ways we expect or even want. Coming from that jumbled place of agony and assurance, Either Way, We’ll Be All Right is a journey through the darkness in hopes of discovering light on the other side.