Full Description
A comprehensive and compassionate guide to navigating loss.
When social worker Lisa Keefauver became a widow in 2011, she was alarmed to discover that even though 100 percent of us experience loss, we're living in a grief illiterate world. In her work as a therapist, and in her search for help in the wake of her own loss, Keefauver began to see how the misguided stories we consume about grief lead to unnecessary suffering. Responding to the problematic narratives that grief is something to move on from after completing the five stages like some sort of to-do list, Keefauver became a grief activist. Through this book and her hit podcast of the same title, she creates a safe place to be inside the messiness of it all, to discover the full spectrum of grief, and to find the tools that help grievers move forward, not on. Grief is a Sneaky Bitch is a comprehensive guide-both a manual full of insights and skills and, even more importantly, a thoughtful companion that helps readers feel seen and held.
Keefauver shares her personal and professional wisdom alongside the lessons she's learned from clinicians, authors, poets, and friends. In place of rigid instructions and must-do checklists, Grief is a Sneaky Bitch invites reflection, encourages self-compassion, and explores the therapeutic power of humor with, yes, a bit of profanity.
Contents
Preface: Life Lessons Learned at the Bottom of the Ocean
Inviting You to Start Here: Orienting You to the Who, What, Where, When, and Why of Grief
Introduction: A Guide to Reading This Book
Time in Grief: Discovering How and Why Time Feels So Different
the World's Still Spinning
Start Close in
the Messy Middle
Wait. Am I Still Grieving?
What the Hell Is Happening to Me? Helping You See the 360-Degree Impact of Grief (No, It's Not Just All in Your Head)
Everything Sucks (And Other Negative Thoughts)
This Is Your Brain on Grief
Your Body Knows
Too Much Too Soon
Emotions and Feelings and Moods, Oh My!
Another Full-Time Job
Relating to Yourself and Others (Or Not): (Re)Discovering Yourself and Your Relationship to Others in Grief
Everyone Is Stylish in Their Own Way
Knowing and Honoring Your Needs
Oh, the Places You Go and the People You See (And Why It's Exhausting)
People Say Stupid Shit
Who's Got Your Back?
of Course It's Complicated
Access Denied
Pitfalls and Hazards: Identifying the Grief Thief and Other Speed Bumps to Navigating Loss
Watch Out for the Grief Thief
There Is No Grief GPS
Ambiguity S-U-C-K-S
Should Is a Dirty Word (And Not the Swearing Kind)
Holidays, Anniversaries, and Other Grief Hazards
Secondary Losses: The Sneakiest Bitches of Them All
Skills and Tools That Help Grief Suck Less: Discovering Ways to Soften the Hard Edges of Grief
Notice Mindfully
Improv Skills Help
Your Turn to Buddy-Breathe
Seek a Creative Resource
Make Space
Now What? Bringing Curiosity to the Emerging Story of Your Life
the Beautiful, Messy, Emerging You
Memories for Safekeeping
Meaning Making (Even Though It Didn't Happen for a Reason)
When Grief Becomes a Part of the Story-but Not the Whole
A Little Extra
Appendix A: An Alphabet of Reminders for Your Grief Journey
Appendix B: A Letter to the Grief Supporters
Afterword
QR Codes for Guided Meditations
About the Author
