A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance: Help for the Losses in Life

Covering a variety of situations including death, divorce, aging, and unemployment, this compassionate guide provides practical methods for dealing with grief during any stage. Included is important information about how to help others with their grief as well as a listing of support resources.

Grief manifests itself in many ways, and unfortunately life does not provide us with a manual for coping with it. When we experience a major loss, we become bewildered by the feelings and thoughts we experience, the comments made to us, and even the physical symptoms we may suffer. In her award-winning book A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance: Help for the Losses in Life, published by AAL Quality Life Resources, Margaret Metzgar provides compassionate guidance for coping with this most troubling of times.

A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance, winner of the 2001 Benjamin Franklin Award from the Publishers Marketing Association for the best book in the psychology/self help category, was written as a comforting resource for those experiencing loss and grief. This beautifully illustrated book approaches this subject with sensitivity, recognizing that those trying to understand and cope with loss often have an impaired ability to concentrate during this time. Margaret Metzger encourages the reader to proceed slowly, giving oneself the gift of time, even when it comes to reading the book.

Metzgar emphasizes that grief is not limited to the death of a loved one. There are many different faces of loss, such as divorce, job loss, physical loss, and even the loss of a pet. And most important, there is no one "right" way of handling one’s grief. Metzgar says, "Grief responses vary from person to person, situation to situation. If what we are experiencing is not the same as other people in our life, no one is wrong. Just as each of us is our own unique person, our grief also is uniquely our own. Not better. Not worse. Just ours."

A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance provides coping mechanisms for the feelings, experiences, and expectations that grievers face throughout their healing process.

Margaret K. Metzgar is a certified mental health counselor, and founder of the Transition and Loss Center in Seattle, Washington. She works with individuals, grief groups, hospice and other professional caregivers, schools and religious groups. In addition to her private practice, she conducts professional training and workshops, and is a noted national and international speaker and published author.