Principles and Practice of Grief Counseling

Darcy L. Harris, Ph.D., FT, is an associate professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Programs at King's University College at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, where she is the coordinator of the Thanatology Program. She also maintains a private clinical practice with a focus on issues related to change, loss, and transition. Dr. Harris planned and developed the undergraduate degree program in thanatology at King's University College, which provides students from around the world with the opportunity to study about death, dying, grief, and bereavement. She has implemented coursework in thanatology in the specific interest areas of critical theory, social justice, and the exploration of grief after nondeath losses. She is also adjunct faculty in the College of Graduate Studies at Western University. She has served on the board of directors for the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), and she is the recipient of the Death Educator award from this organization. She is also a member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement (IWGDDB). Dr. Harris has written extensively and is an internationally recognized speaker, providing presentations and workshops on topics related to death, grief, and loss in contemporary society. Topical areas include the social context of grief in Western society, compassion and mindful awareness in the context of loss and grief, and non-death loss and grief. Her books include Handbook of Social Justice in Loss and Grief, Counting Our Losses: Reflecting on Change, Loss, and Transition in Everyday Life, and Non-Death Loss and Grief: Context and Clinical Implications, and she is the co-editor of Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice. She has also authored numerous book chapters and articles in related areas. Howard R. Winokuer, PhD, LPC, NCC, FT, is the founder of the Winokuer Center for Counseling and Healing in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he maintains a full-time clinical practice. He completed his PhD in 1999 at Mississippi State University, where he developed the first course in grief counseling skills. As the founder of TO LIFE, a not-for-profit educational and counseling organization, he was the associate producer of seven PBS specials and helped pilot one of the first teen suicide prevention programs in the southeastern United States. He has taught numerous courses and has been a guest lecturer at many colleges and universities, including New York University, Rochester University, the University of North Alabama, Queen's University, Appalachian State University, and the University of North Carolina. Dr. Winokuer has conducted workshops and seminars throughout the United States as well as nine foreign countries, including programs for St. Christopher's Hospice and St. George's Medical Center, London, UK; The National Assistance Board, Barbados; and the United States Embassy at The Hague, Netherlands. He wrote a bimonthly column in The Concord Tribune, "Understanding Grief," and hosted a regular radio show on WEGO, Life Talk. He was a consultant to WBTV, the local CBS affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the tragedy of September 11 and has been the mental health "professional on call" for Fox TV's news show The Edge. He has recently appeared on the radio show Healing the Grieving Heart and has been interviewed by the American Counseling Association Journal and Counseling Today, as well as in the Staten Island Advance, The Houston Chronicle, The Charlotte Observer, The Detroit Free Press, and The Chicago Tribune. He also led an international delegation of funeral directors to Russia and Holland to study death and funeral practices in those countries. Dr. Winokuer has been actively involved in the field of dying, death, and bereavement since 1979. He has presented workshops and seminars to many organizations, including the National Funeral Directors Association, the University of North Carolina's Department of Neurological Surgery, the Tennessee Health Care Association, and the Presbyterian Hospital. He also developed the crisis management plan for the Cabarrus County School System. He has been an active member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) for almost three decades and is a past president of the organization. In his almost 30 years of membership, he has chaired the national public relations committee, co-chaired the 2000 and 2003 national conferences, served on the board of directors, co-chaired the 2011 international conference that ADEC co-hosted with the International Conference on Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society, served as president, and was one of the co-editors for Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice.

Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I: Theoretical Underpinnings
1: Thoughts About Counseling
2: Unique Aspects of Grief Counseling
3: Theories and Orientation to Bereavement
4: The Social Context of Loss
Part II: Practice and Process
5: The Practice of Presence
6: The Basics of Counseling Practice
7: Working With Bereaved Individuals
8: Living Losses: Nonfinite Loss, Ambiguous Loss, and Chronic Sorrow
9: Working With Emotions—Yours and Theirs
10: When Grief Goes Awry
11: The Clinician's Toolbox: Therapeutic Modalities and Techniques in the Context of Grief
12: Ethical Issues in Grief Counseling Practice
Part III: Current Issues and Trends
13: Caregiver Issues for Grief Counselors
14: Current Issues and Trends for Grief Counselors
Afterword
Appendix: Case Studies
Index