Crossing the Bridge: Creating Cermonies for Grieving and Healing from Life's Losses

Argues that loss can be an opportunity for emotional growth, and suggests a five-stage healing ceremony to transform grief into a postive change

This poetically written self-help book encourages those who have experienced loss to reclaim their sense of hope and trust in the universe through creative arts and self-designed ritual. Metrick defines bereavement sufficiently broadly to enable almost any reader to find her suggestions useful. Although death and divorce are the major losses she covers, Metrick also suggests acknowledging and mourning the loss of a dream, broken promises, getting fired, theft, and similar experiences. Support groups, keeping a journal, and making a scrapbook are some of the more conventional means to healing she suggests, but she also considers building an altar, crafting power objects, holding a give away, burning symbols, and many other possibilities. A strong, heart-filled book. Pat Monaghan