Book Review: Restorative Grief by Mandy Capehart
Restorative Grief: Embracing Our Losses Without Losing Ourselves
Author: Mandy Capehart
Published: May 25, 2021
210 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: July 1-6, 2021
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Restorative Grief is a 31-day guidebook and memoir of loss, life, and learning how to tread water. Follow the author on an exploration of tools and techniques to guide you through a healing process inviting your mind, body, spirit, and soul to the table. All aspects of your story are just that: yours. This is your chance to explore what life after loss can look like without the platitudes, minimizing, and dismissive methods used by so many well-intentioned grief supporters.
As grievers, we keep sorrow to ourselves to avoid rocking the boat or making others uncomfortable. And as grief supporters, the last thing we want is to increase the pain felt by our loved ones. Yet in both roles, we find ourselves repeating platitudes and minimizing our needs simply to survive the next wave.
In Restorative Grief, Mandy Capehart takes us through her story of loss and recovery both in and out of the church walls. While being raised in the evangelical tradition, she found church structures and understanding lacking for those who needed more than a quick sabbatical.
Restorative Grief provides practical tools, concepts, and techniques to empower grievers to take what they need and to find it for themselves in body, mind, and spirit. While her story is framed around the Christian experience, this work is approachable for anyone capable of reading with an open mind to chew the meat and spit out the bones. Find what serves and leave the rest.
Jessica’s Review:
Restorative Grief is a 31-day guide and memoir to help you work through your grief whether from a death, such as Mandy’s loss of her mother or some other type of loss. We all experience various forms of loss in different ways and we must all work through it. Mandy briefly shares her story and gives the reader a 31-day guidebook to go through the grief process. Though in a 31-day format, Mandy encourages the reader to take as much time as they need.
Each of the 31 days starts with a quote, gives a tool to use, a concept, and also techniques that may help the reader. Mandy also uses bible verses in her work. She acknowledges that bible verses will not work for everyone and to use what works for you. There is also a list of resources for reference and recommended books and also a list of support and concepts.
Mandy knows what she is talking about as she mentions the loss of her mother and her experience with that grief. She is also a certified grief and life coach, and she also founded The Restorative Grief Project. She believes in long term support of grief and Restorative Grief was truly her baby and she genuinely wants to help others in their times of grief.
The only critique I can really give is that as a reader, I was wanting more of Mandy’s story. We just got little bits here through the chapters. That is not really memoir-ish for me. This is a book that will help those that need assistance with going through their grief one day at a time. This book would work for those in the counseling/ helping professions to help others deal with their grief. This is a book that I will keep for future use when needed.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK