Losses in Later Life: A New Way of Walking

Achieve faith and understanding when dealing with the loss of a loved one or a major change in your life! Losses in Later Life: A New Way Of Walking with God, Second Edition, focuses on seven major losses: loss of youth, loss of family, loss of parents, loss of work, loss of spouse, loss of health, and loss of identity. This second edition has been reworked with new research to include updated information about the loss of independence and several additional losses not discussed in the previous edition. You will explore the path to becoming a spiritually mature person who has faith and is able to grieve, let go, and release what is lost in order to live a mentally healthy and rewarding life. With this valuable book, you will explore the issues of losses in later life from an approach that integrates psychology and spirituality to help you understand that loss is an inevitable and significant factor in the lives of people over the age of 40. Discussing the dynamics of loss and grief and defining spiritual health, Losses in Later Life examines the seven most common losses of the second half of your life from a positive perspective. Some of the areas you will read about include: spiritual health and grief the process of grieving abnormal and unhealthy grief such as worshipping a deceased person or other loss in a way that mimics the worship of a god marker events such as changing careers, the loss of dreams, and the loss of youth feeling you have a limited amount of time left finding new meanings of "old" and learning to embrace the present spiritual and psychological understanding for the loss of children to death or adulthood, the loss of parents, and the loss of a spouse Caregivers and anyone interested in the psychology and spirituality of aging will find excellent help and suggestions from Losses in Later Life. This book is a necessary tool for spiritually assisting your times of grief and confusion. With proven suggestions and advice, Losses in Later Life serves to enlighten your path through the later years and enrich your soul.

R. Scott Sullender, PhD, is the Executive Director at the Samaritan Counseling Center in Upland, California. He is also an ordained Presbyterian minister, a licensed psychologist in the state of California, and a Diplomate with the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. Dr. Sullender has 25 years of professional experience as a psychologist, pastor, chaplain, pastoral counselor, and administrator.

Preface	p. ix
Introduction to the Second Edition	p. xi
The Grief Dynamic	p. 1
Grief's Pain and Its Defenses	p. 1
The Process of Grieving	p. 7
Grief and Meaning	p. 10
Grief in Later Life	p. 12
Loss Is Subjective	p. 15
Spiritual Health and Grief	p. 17
Making Gods	p. 18
Temporary Gods	p. 20
Gods You Can Touch	p. 22
False Promises	p. 24
A Cadre of Slaves	p. 25
God Seeks After Us	p. 27
Idolatry and Abnormal Grief	p. 28
Spiritual Health in Later Life	p. 29
The Loss of Youth	p. 31
The Changes of the Body	p. 31
Marker Events	p. 33
The Changing Career	p. 34
Loss of Dreams	p. 36
Eschatology and Loss	p. 38
Society's Pervasive Influence	p. 40
Finding Positive Meanings for "Old"	p. 41
Embracing the Present	p. 43
The Loss of Family	p. 47
A Complexity of Emotions	p. 47
The Process Character of This Loss	p. 50
Ambivalent Feelings	p. 52
The Wounded Parents	p. 54
Variations on the Theme	p. 56
The Physiological Component	p. 58
The Passage to the Empty Nest	p. 59
From Children to Friends	p. 60
New Possibilities for Caring	p. 63
The Loss of Parents	p. 65
The Aging Parent	p. 65
Aging Brings Changes	p. 67
The Slow Death	p. 70
The Ignored Grief	p. 72
Guilt in Grief	p. 73
Baggage from the Past	p. 76
Can't Go Home Again	p. 78
New Identity, New Life Stage	p. 79
The Loss of Work	p. 81
The Changing Face of Retirement	p. 81
Retirement and the Meaning of Work	p. 83
The Loss of Status	p. 86
Loss of Friends	p. 88
Retirement and the Idolization of Work	p. 90
Doing and Being	p. 93
Theology of Work and Play	p. 95
New Challenge: A Ritual for Retirement	p. 97
The Loss of Spouse	p. 101
The Multifaceted Loss	p. 101
Feminization of Death	p. 103
The Unexpected Loss	p. 105
Loss by Divorce	p. 107
Loneliness	p. 108
Learning to Reach Out	p. 109
Learning Self-Sufficiency	p. 111
Avoid Making Idols	p. 113
Changing Identities	p. 115
Letting Go, Again	p. 117
The Loss of Health	p. 119
The First Experience of This Loss	p. 119
Changing Our Assumptions About Life	p. 121
Responses to the Loss of Health	p. 123
Health and Salvation	p. 125
The Loss of Major Body Functions	p. 127
Chronic Health Problems	p. 129
Transcending the Body	p. 131
The Value of Being Handicapped	p. 132
The Loss of Independence	p. 135
Loss of Home	p. 136
Residential Changes As a Function of Independence	p. 138
Loss of Mobility	p. 139
Clinging to Lost Independence	p. 141
Loss of Financial Security	p. 142
Loss of Control	p. 143
A Culture of Independence	p. 146
Letting Go, to Receive	p. 147
The Value of Surrender	p. 149
Faith and Successful Aging	p. 151
The Final Loss	p. 151
Avoiding Pain	p. 154
Learning to Suffer Well	p. 156
Faith As the Trust	p. 157
Faith Is Letting Go	p. 159
Idolatry and Avoiding Grief	p. 161
Successful Aging	p. 162
Faith and Aging Well	p. 164
Notes	p. 167
Selected Bibliography	p. 179
Index	p. 181
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

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Losses in Later Life: A New Way of Walking with God, Second Edition

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