Darcy L. Harris, Ph.D., FT, is a professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary
Programs at King’s University College at the University of Western Ontario, 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. She serves as a consultant for the Southern Ontario Fertility Treatment
Program in London, Ontario, as well as a community consultant for victims of traumatic
loss.

Prior to her teaching responsibilities at King’s University College, Dr. Harris worked as
an expanded role nurse in the areas of oncology and hospice care in the United States for
15 years. She then completed graduate training in counseling psychology and maintained
a full-time therapy practice for another 10 years prior to completing her doctoral studies
in Psychology and Thanatology at the Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio.

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, and bereavement. She has implemented
coursework in Thanatology in the specific interest areas of critical theory, social justice,
and the exploration of grief after non-death losses. She is also adjunct faculty in the
College of Graduate Studies at the University of Western Ontario, and she is on the board
of directors for the Association for Death Education and Counseling.

Dr. Harris has written extensively, and frequently provides presentations on topics related
to death, grief, and loss in contemporary society. Topical areas include the social context
of grief in Western Society, women’s experiences of reproductive losses, shame and
social stigma in death and grief. She has recently released a book that explores non-
death and nonfinite loss entitled, Counting Our Losses: Reflecting on Change, Loss,
and Transition in Everyday Life (Routledge), and she is co-editor of an upcoming book
entitled, Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and
Practice (Routledge).

Edited by Darcy L. Harris

This core, introductory textbook for undergraduate and graduate level courses is the first volume to combine the knowledge and skills of counseling psychology with current theory and research in grief and bereavement.

It is grounded in the belief that grief counseling is distinct from other therapeutic issues because grief is an adaptive response rather than a form of pathology. The book describes the unique aspects of grief as a normal response to loss and views the goal of counseling bereaved individuals as one of facilitating the unfolding of the healthy and adaptive aspects of the process as it must manifest itself within each client. Grief is considered as a response to losses that are both death- and non-death related. The text introduces various theories of bereavement and counseling and discusses the basic skills required for successful interventions with bereaved individuals, particularly that of “presence.”

A persistent thread running throughout the text is that grief is not just a psychological issue that is experienced in isolation, but something that can be experienced physically, socially, economically, and practically. The text also considers grief counselingwith special populations, ethical issues, and caregiver issues for counselors.

Key Features:

• Regards grief therapy as a unique form of counseling based on grief as an adaptive response rather than a form of pathology
• Combines the knowledge and skills of counseling psychology with current research in grief and bereavement
• Addresses requisite skills for successful interventions with bereaved individuals
• Written by a prominent clinician and an educator with combined experience of over 60 years in grief counseling
• Includes case studies, discussion and reflection questions, and suggested additional resources in each chapter

Edited by Robert A. Neimeyer, Darcy L. Harris, Howard R. Winokuer, Gordon F. Thornton

Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society is an authoritative guide to the study of and work with major themes in bereavement.

Its chapters synthesize the best of research-based conceptualization and clinical wisdom across 30 of the most important topics in the field, including the implementation of specific models in clinical practice, family therapy for bereavement, complicated grief, spirituality, and more. The volume’s contributors come from around the world, and their work reflects a level of cultural awareness of the diversity and universality of bereavement and its challenges that has rarely been approximated by other volumes. This is a readable, engaging, and comprehensive book that will share the most important scientific and applied work on the contemporary scene with a broad international audience, and as such, it will be an essential addition to anyone with a serious interest in death, dying, and bereavement.

Edited by Darcy L. Harris

This text is a valuable resource for clinicians who work with clients dealing with non-death, nonfinite, and ambiguous losses in their lives.

It explores adjustment to change, transition, and loss from the perspective of the latest thinking in bereavement theory and research. The specific and unique aspects of different types of loss are discussed, such as infertility, aging, chronic illnesses and degenerative conditions, divorce and separation, immigration, adoption, loss of beliefs, and loss of employment. Harris and the contributing authors consider these from an experiential perspective, rather than a developmental one, in order to focus on the key elements of each loss as it may be experienced at any point in the lifespan. Concepts related to adaptation and coping with loss, such as resilience, hardiness, meaning making and the assumptive world, transcendence, and post traumatic growth are considered as part of the integration of loss into everyday life experience.