The Choice: Finding Life in the Face of Death: Six Stories from a Therapist's Casebook

Using six stories from her casebook as a therapist, author Jan Hatanaka discusses the complex relationship between death, grief, and reconciliation. Included in these six stories is her own heart-wrenching and dramatic experience with recovery. Hatanaka draws on her personal, clinical, and academic experience as she takes the reader through the Grief Reconciliation Process, describing the actual steps taken by people who manage to find life in the face of death. Born out of the intensity of the author’s personal experiences, The Choice is brilliant in its simple, gentle, and profound exploration of the topic of death.

Jan Hatanaka, Ph.D., has a private practice as a Grief Reconciliation Specialist. She holds positions at York University, Toronto, in the departments of nursing and religious studies and the York Institute for Health Research. Her care of those who are suffering in the face of death is informed by her personal experience, clinical work, and academic research. She has a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Ottawa, a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Wales.