Routledge Sorrow's Profiles: Death, Grief, and Crisis in the Family

Product Description In this book, the author leads a journey through the depths of authentic sorrow, longing, and despair. Daring us to face death unflinchingly, the author imparts courage to spin in the vortex of personal and collective grief. Review "The author's book is like a rhythmic dance that unifies the experiences of the most powerful thinkers of our time with salt-of-the earth people, writers, songwriters, and artists. We are guided gracefully and sensitively through human experiences of sorrow, grief and loss, and shown how our own unique experiences are personal, yet part of the interwoven and inter-connected mosaic of life. This is a book from the heart - brilliant and insightful!"--Paul H. Watters, B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed. "'Lifeworld' is a key concept in phenomenological philosophy, referring to the world of everyday life as directly experienced prior to any specialization. Alapack shows that the Lifeworld, if approached correctly, is a rich source of knowledge: more genuine than that produced in the lab, the therapeutic room or the hospital. But to get this knowledge requires a significant shift in attitude, to knowledge in the vernacular; it is raw; it stops habitual modes of thinking and invites the reader to a more radical existential mode of being."--Amedeo P. Giorgi, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology "Dr. Richard Alapack, sensitively and with deep understanding, orchestrates a survivor's journey through the complex country of sorrow. Alapack challenges and transcends the received scientific view of grief over loss as a well-ordered progression. He appeals to the power of the imagination, broadening our understanding and breaking new ground that exposes both the life-giving and potentially destructive aspects of intense sorrow. This rich, original contribution to the grief literature must be read."--Freda Woodrow Ph.D., "In this beautifully tender, sensitively reflective, and provocative book, the author leads a journey through the depths of authentic sorrow, longing, and despair. Daring us to face death unflinchingly, Alapack rouses in us the courage to spin in the vortex of personal and collective grief. In doing so, we emerge transformed and forever changed. No other book on human loss is so sane yet simultaneously subverts the status quo."--Ron Cornelissen, About the Author J. Alapack, Richard