Understanding and Coping with Grief

By: Joanne Cacciatore, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Joanne Cacciatore

Grief remains one of the great mysteries that each of us will face one day. Even when grief is expected, it can be overwhelmingly paralyzing in its power. Coping with the day-to-day pain of loss can seem impossible. And everyone copes with grief differently—there is no right way, timeline, or process guaranteed to make someone feel better, so it’s difficult to understand in others—and sometimes even in yourself.

Over the course of 10 lectures, Dr. Joanne Cacciatore, a research professor at Arizona State University and founder of the MISS Foundation, explores the nuances of grief and grieving, particularly within our often grief-avoidant culture.

Dr. Cacciatore has been counseling grieving families and researching traumatic grief for more than two decades. She also has firsthand experience with this subject, as a mother of five children: four who walk and one who soars. Through this eye-opening series, she provides a sensitive and empathic approach to the subject, with emotional, physical, social, cognitive, and spiritual insights that can help make sense of this complicated and overwhelming emotion. Additionally, she offers several tools and exercises to help you practice healthy coping mechanisms, enabling you to face and embrace the grieving process.

©2022 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2022 Audible Originals, LLC

Helpful and Allowing

I appreciate this book so much. My takeaway was to allow grief. Because it’s an uncomfortable and hard place to be and empathize with many of us say platitudes in the effort to get out of that uncomfortable place. My takeaway was to get comfortable in the uncomfortable. Life is beautiful and precious because of the multiple colors and emotions. I’m learning to embrace all emotions and sit in them even when it doesn’t feel good. It’s honoring to sit with someone in their pain and say “I’m here, you’re not alone”.

excellent primer or review on grief

as a holistic health and wellness coach, this lecture series was wonderful review. great for the newbie to grief or those retouching it or wishing to better assist others in their grief.

Grief can't be your friend.

This book is a loving and touching explanation of grief and the process of bereavement. It should be read by anyone who has experienced loss of anything that was once loved, cherished and cared for, human or not.

Good book

I found the book very informative and inspiring. I think many of the provided techniques can be helpful.

Amazing

Thank you Audible and Joanne Cacciatore for producing and writing this. It was profound, moving, and a wonderful guide to dealing in a healthy way to grief, pain, trauma, and helping others.
I encourage everyone to listen to this, especially if you are suffering a loss of any kind. God bless :)

#FTLOB( said by me few days after Brendan died (for the love of Brendan we go on) hope everyone heard that profound message

Nothing about the excruciating journey is easy. Dr cacciatore. Helps you understand it’s not supposed to be easy and why. Puts the heartache in perspective and helps you understand what to do next /for you / what’s possible. Forever bringing the loss and living life- together a different version of what you imagined.

Highly Recommend

I am a huge fan of Dr. Jo! Her voice is captivating and her compassion surrounding grief and loss is paramount. I love how she incorporates real-life stories. This book brings awareness to the many challenges that grieving people face while gently allowing space for grief.

I had the pleasure of visiting her Selah Care Farm Sept 2022. Prior to my visit, I was lost, angry, hopeless, and every other unwanted emotion. After 4 short days, I felt a huge weight lifted from my chest and I left with new practices of meditation, barefoot hikes, and so much more! Get the book, visit the farm!

Enjoyed the practice exercises, not the interpersonal approach to others

I liked the practice exercises. Some of the techniques she teaches I thought were great for overall mental health; however, most of the exercises were not specific to grief particularly. I didn’t like the vilification of those who haven’t endured grief vs those who have, felt like “us vs them.” I also don’t think it’s helpful when those who are grieving need to feel more connected and supported, not more isolated and angry. Perhaps two separate books might be needed- one on how to cope with grief on an individual level and one on how society can improve our responses to grief. A lecture on how to find or build a community of support particularly for those who feel very isolated might be more helpful than describing all the ways those around us are incompetent in helping our recovery.The lectures were primarily anecdotal and peer recovery based, overall felt like more tangible skills or comprehensive understanding of why grief shows up and how we can cope with it from many different evidence informed lenses would have been more helpful.

Lost my father to homicide and frankly this series seems hopeless essential

Frankly much of this series made me feel hopeless, because the author dismisses any idea of closure, even intentionally misdefining the word, and seems to scoff at acceptance. She also seems very resentful, even so far as to vilify well-meaning people who intend to help folks progress through their healing journey, rather than let it define them. I can understand why someone who has made grief their identity and their livelihood would see it as a perpetual state of being, But I do not feel that this is something that I have to pass on to my yard unborn children as the author suggests, and believe that we can break the cycle.

How the Great Courses have fallen

I shouldn’t overly focus on this particular installment, but I have to lodge my disappointment that the great courses recordings have fallen so far. It used to be that the great courses were “the best college professors“ giving their lectures. It has now devolved into some sort of quasi-podcast self-help type discussion. Very depressing evolution of the product.