Further Reading — Chapter 34: Grief, Loss, and Life Transitions

Foundational Academic Sources

Stroebe, M. S., & Schut, H. (1999). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale and description. Death Studies, 23(3), 197–224. The original paper introducing the Dual Process Model — the theoretical rationale and the empirical evidence for oscillation between loss and restoration orientations. The most influential contemporary theoretical contribution to grief research. Accessible to motivated general readers.

Worden, J. W. (2018). Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner (5th ed.). Springer Publishing Company. The clinical manual for Worden's tasks-based model — comprehensive coverage of the four tasks, clinical applications, special populations (children, traumatic bereavement, AIDS-related loss), and the evidence base. The standard clinical reference on grief work.

Klass, D., Silverman, P. R., & Nickman, S. L. (Eds.). (1996). Continuing Bonds: New Understandings of Grief. Taylor & Francis. The foundational collection establishing the continuing bonds model — cross-cultural studies of bereaved people maintaining ongoing relationships with the deceased, challenging the "letting go" framework that had dominated bereavement research. Landmark in contemporary grief theory.

Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9(3), 455–471. The paper introducing the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory — the measurement instrument and the theoretical framework for PTG. The foundation of the empirical literature on growth after adversity.

Boss, P. (1999). Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Live with Unresolved Grief. Harvard University Press. Pauline Boss's foundational account of ambiguous loss — grief for losses where the person is physically present but psychologically absent (dementia, addiction, serious mental illness), or psychologically present but physically absent (missing persons, POWs, immigrants' homeland). Accessible and clinically important; extends the grief framework to a category of loss that is enormously common but frequently unnamed.

Doka, K. J. (Ed.). (2002). Disenfranchised Grief: New Directions, Challenges, and Strategies for Practice. Research Press. Kenneth Doka's comprehensive account of disenfranchised grief — its theoretical framework, varieties (pet loss, pregnancy loss, unacknowledged relationships), and practice implications. The standard reference for clinicians working with grief that lacks social recognition.

Books for General Readers

Kübler-Ross, E. (1969). On Death and Dying. Macmillan. The original text — based on Kübler-Ross's clinical interviews with dying patients. Read as a historical document: the genesis of the stage model, and also its actual framing (more nuanced than its popular application). Accessible and humane, if occasionally dated.

Kübler-Ross, E., & Kessler, D. (2005). On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss. Scribner. Kübler-Ross's later application of the stage model specifically to bereavement — more nuanced than the popular version, written shortly before her death. David Kessler's commentary is useful. Read as a companion to the Dual Process and continuing bonds literature, not as a prescription.

Lewis, C. S. (1961). A Grief Observed. Faber and Faber. C.S. Lewis's journal, written in the months following the death of his wife — one of the most honest and unguarded accounts of acute bereavement available. Not a theoretical text; a human document. The raw experience of grief that no theoretical framework fully captures. Essential reading.

Didion, J. (2005). The Year of Magical Thinking. Knopf. Joan Didion's account of the year following her husband John Gregory Dunne's sudden death — clear-eyed, unsentimental, and deeply thoughtful about the psychology of grief, including the denial, magical thinking, and continuing relationship. A companion to Lewis for readers who want to understand acute bereavement from the inside.

Bridges, W. (2004). Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes (revised ed.). Da Capo Press. William Bridges' essential account of the internal psychological process of transition — the distinction between change and transition, the three phases (ending, neutral zone, new beginning), and practical guidance for navigating them. Applicable to any major life change: career transitions, relationship changes, parenthood, retirement, loss. One of the most practically useful frameworks in the book.

Neimeyer, R. A. (2001). Meaning Reconstruction and the Experience of Loss. American Psychological Association. Robert Neimeyer's synthesis of the meaning reconstruction approach to grief — how loss challenges meaning frameworks and how integration involves constructing a narrative that encompasses the loss. More theoretical than the other books in this list; valuable for clinicians and serious general readers.

Kessler, D. (2019). Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief. Scribner. David Kessler's extension of the Kübler-Ross model with a sixth stage — finding meaning. Kessler lost his son before writing the book; it combines personal memoir with clinical insight. More useful than its provocative framing suggests; the practical guidance on meaning-making is valuable.

On Traumatic Grief and Clinical Treatment

Shear, M. K., Frank, E., Houck, P. R., & Reynolds, C. F. (2005). Treatment of complicated grief: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 293(21), 2601–2608. The RCT establishing that Complicated Grief Treatment (CGT) is more effective than interpersonal therapy for complicated grief. The evidence base for specific treatment of Prolonged Grief Disorder. Technical; available in institutional libraries.

The Character Reading Lists

Jordan is working through: - A Grief Observed (Lewis) — Dr. Nalini mentioned it in the context of loss and love; Jordan read it in three evenings; journal entry: "Lewis says grief is like the sea at high tide. I think the anticipatory grief has been that for a long time, just not acknowledged." - Transitions (Bridges) — the neutral zone chapter is heavily annotated; Jordan is applying the framework to the past 14 months of his own professional and personal transitions

Amara is working through: - The Year of Magical Thinking (Didion) — Dr. Liang recommended it after the grave visit; Amara reading it in parallel with clinical case notes on grief presentations; noted: "Didion describes maintaining the continuation of the relationship as magical thinking. The continuing bonds research says it's adaptive. I think both are true at different stages." - Ambiguous Loss (Boss) — reading the sections on addiction and presence-without-availability for direct clinical application; also, and she has said this to Dr. Liang, for herself