Death 101 (PDF)

Human beings experience many losses in a lifetime, but the death of a loved one is among the most traumatic. While grieving is a natural part of life, it still challenges our daily existence. The purpose of Death 101: A Workbook for Educating and Healing, 2nd edition is to provide an understanding of dying, death, and bereavement that will assist individuals to cope better with and understand their own death and the death of others. It enables us to examine cultural attitudes and assumptions about dying and death. Death 101, 2nd edition introduces the dying process, grief work, and ethical and legal issues while providing personal insight and sensitivity. The workbook is meant as a supplement to textbooks on dying and death, to accompany the academic material necessary to increase our knowledge about death education. At the same time, it is intended to be an independent method of working through loss, a personal guide for the journey through grief.

Death 101, 2nd edition includes activities that may be used in part or in whole, sequentially or at random, by individuals or a group. Different professionals, including counselors, teachers, clergy, medical personnel, and caregivers, may utilize these activities. The therapeutic exercises in Death 101, 2nd edition will help the lay reader cope effectively with loss and death and allow a more effective life when faced with grief. Scattered throughout the workbook are stories, poems, and comments from others who have traveled through the grieving process.