Product Description

The death of a child is an overwhelming loss. "Why did my child die?" and "Is my child suffering now?" are questions that all people, of all cultures and backgrounds, ask. But characteristic of Western culture is a limited language for expressing grief, and a consuming guilt that undermines the recovery process. Dr. Sukie Miller, author of the landmark work After Death, turns to the beliefs and healing stories of other cultures to present a unique perspective that is both surprising and comforting. Sharing her research with a compassionate and grounded voice, she offers hope to those seeking meaning in what seems senseless, and heartening possibilities for returning to wholeness, even if we feel life cannot ever be the same.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1005949 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

From Publishers Weekly
As in her previous work (After Death), Miller again looks to other cultures for inspirationAin this case for alternative ways to deal with the intense grief following the death of a child. A psychotherapist and founder of the Institute for the Study of the Afterlife, Miller repeats here to the point of redundancy that Judeo-Christian culture has "no language" for describing this grief. She recommends adopting the rituals of groups such as the Hindus, West African Yorubas, Native Americans and the Spiritists of Brazil to make up for what she perceives as Western inadequacies. Drawing on client case studies, Miller posits, for example, that the Baha'i belief in destiny can serve as an antidote to the tendency of parents to take responsibility for a child's death. Inspired by an Afro-Brazilian tradition, she further suggests that bereaved parents renew their faith by regarding the experience as an initiation that results in a deepened spiritual understanding of the loss. Although Miller's approach may be useful to some, others who question such concepts as communing with the dead and reincarnation will find little solace in it. Agent, Barbara Lowenstein. (Aug.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Howard K. Bell, M.Div. executive director of Pathways, a health crisis resource center, Minneapolis, Minnesota Impactful, spiritual, and enlightening. Sukie Miller's personal wisdom, clinical insights, engaging storytelling abilities, and findings from her innovative research are powerfully integrated. -- Review

Review
Wingate ParkardThe Seattle TimesA comforting, thoughtful approach to the excruciating questions that grief churns up...the best book on parental grief I have ever seen.

Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D.author of Kitchen Table WisdomDr. Miller has written a book that will revolutionize our thinking and restore our hearts.

Howard K. Bell, M.Div.executive director of Pathways, a health crisis resource center, Minneapolis, MinnesotaImpactful, spiritual, and enlightening. Sukie Miller's personal wisdom, clinical insights, engaging storytelling abilities, and findings from her innovative research are powerfully integrated.

Customer Reviews

A very helpful and consoling work.
My son died 15 years ago and although I have gone on to live my life, I have never been free of the grief of this loss. Dr. Miller's book has helped create a context in which I feel a sense of hope possibility, and healing. I felt comforted by the ideas in the book and reccommend it highly to anyone who has lost a child or knows someone who has.

It makes you think of other culture's ideas on child death
I found this one to be very interesting. We tend to stay within our culture's views, and Miller enlightens our thinking. Some of it is a little strange compared to our culture's thinking. All the same, very interesting. I did not, however, read any of Miller's other books for the simple reason she has never had children. Her views are from a "textbook" point of view, very professional and well written. She speaks from the point of her patients, and people she has met throughout the world who have lost children. Textbook theories or not, a person cannot grasp how this truly feels unless they have had a child of their own die.

Feeling hopeless? Be encouraged by this book.
By learning about other cultures and their traditions, sometimes we can gain an insight into why we act the way we do. This book shows us that other cultures are more prepared for and accepting of death. When someone dies, the family is prepared which is more than we can say for North American culture and its inexperience with death.