One of the unspoken aspects of mourning concerns the ways that loss affects our intimate relationships and our sexual expressiveness. This text opens these subjects for conversation, with the aim of promoting the trust, care, and respect that enable us to be vulnerable. It purposefully covers a range of topics, including: (1) the meaning of intimacy and the significance of sexuality, providing a basis for the use of these terms throughout the book; (2) death, grief, and differences in sexual orientation, including death and intimacy in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and the losses endured by young people due to gender issues; (3) loss of relationship and restoration of intimacy in families, including pharmacological effects on the grief processes of widowers; grieving a not-so-loved parent; the layered losses of infertility and intimacy; and the tolls of warintimacy and sexuality challenges for soldiers and their families; (4) adjusting to life's losses associated with aging or illness or infirmity, including Alzheimer's and dementia-related illnesses, physical health losses after 50, and intimacy, sex, and hospiceself-determination and dignity at the end of life; and (5) religious bases that have shaped our perspectives for understanding intimacy, sexuality, and healing after loss, and which give us hopeincluding the spiritual reflections of a rabbi and a Christian voice in defining what is right. Set in a framework that is both psychological and spiritual, the well-researched contributions are intended to acknowledge these experiences both professionally and personally. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography, valuable for research and reference.This book will be of value in undergraduate and graduate courses on thanatology, as well as for anyone interested in knowing more about griefboth those currently bereaved and those who wish to support others in mourning. The contributors appreciate both the importance of our capacities for intimacy and sexuality and our inhibitions and hesitations in giving voice to our needs and concerns, perhaps especially when we are grieving. The information and compassionate understanding they provide encourage us to bridge the gap between the secret and the private and to share what is close to our hearts. Intended Audience: Undergraduate and graduate students in thanatology and grief, health care professionals, administrators, educators, researchers, therapists, counselors, chaplains, clergy, human resources professionals, authors, journalists, artists, gerontologists, the LGBT community and its support network, long-term care professionals and advocates, hospice care providers, support personnel for veterans, government, and business leadership, and those who feel they have lost vitality, mission, and love.
The text frames, psychologically and spiritually, a range of topics on intimacy, sexuality, and grieflesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues; family relationships; illness and aging; and religious bases that have shaped our perspectives. Appropriate for undergraduate and graduate studies in thanatology; includes an extensive bibliography.
Chaplains DeFord (National Council of Hospice and Palliative Professionals) and Gilbert (Association for Death Education and Counseling) introduce examinations from various secular, Jewish, and Christian perspectives on the experiences of aging and grieving an intimate loss. Topics discussed include such issues in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community; adjusting to changes in intimacy due to a partner's dementia; losses experienced by infertile couples; the role of Viagra in widowers' lives; and soldiers' relationship challenges. The book includes a hospice staff survey on sexuality and intimacy at the end of life. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
