Healing the Hurt Spirit

“Today I have permission to be sad. Sadness unlocks the grief through tears. On the other side of sadness is joy.” 

This book was written as a day by day journey through grief for people who have experienced the suicide death of a loved one. Catherine Greenleaf has experienced this type of death three times in her life and it took her 25 years to write a book that helps us to understand the emotions of a suicide survivor. Each page has a theme, a short essay, and a quote like the one above.

I lost my mother to suicide 27 years ago. At the time, there weren’t many counselors who understood the grief that descends on those left behind when someone takes their own life. There were a lot of people who sat in judgment of the death which made this time in my life even harder to work through. There was always a sense of secrecy that was overwhelming, and that is what this book clearly targets.

Catherine Greenleaf addresses those societal opinions that have left the grieving person more isolated than ever. She encourages the survivor to join groups and get the counseling that is needed, but her book is also designed to reach out and help heal the heart one day at a time.

I recommend this book to anyone who has experienced suicide by a loved one. It helps us to remember that as we work through the sadness, there will be the joy that our loved one brought to our lives on the other side. Healing the Hurt Spirit helps dispel the myths that still exist in our society and leads us to the reality that one last event does not define our loved one’s whole life.

The book is available at www.centering.org  

By Carol Lane, Book Written by Catherine Greenleaf

By Carol Lane: Carol Lane is a member of the TAPS adult outreach staff and has worked as a peer mentor and presenter at TAPS seminars. Before coming to TAPS, she was an elementary teacher in Vermont where she also worked with children with emotional disabilities. She has a BA in sociology from Hartwick College and a MEd from Plymouth State College in Plymouth, NH. Carol’s Marine son Bryon died in an aviation accident in July of 2001.