Surviving the suicide of a loved one is brutal. Readers can share the journey of faith and a new perspective on God's comfort and healing as they travel from grief to joy.

Therapy referrals for a child or young person can be motivated for a number of reasons. The parents, carers or professionals responsible for their wellbeing might describe a sudden change in presentation, risk taking behaviour, such as self-harm or experimentation with drugs, alcohol or sex, or they might label the young person as over reacting, under reacting or attention seeking. Such behaviour prompts concern for their safety and confusion about why the child or young person is presenting the way they are. This book offers a thoughtful approach to making sense of such behaviour and encourages adults to ‘reflect on’ rather than ‘react to’ young peoples’ outward presentations. Based on the author’s work with children, young people and families over two decades, this book shares reflections from the therapy room and illustrates how the therapist can try to make sense of mood, behaviour and presentations that previously made no sense. The content relies heavily on clinical experience as well as drawing on classical and contemporary psychotherapeutic literature. So often adults find themselves reacting to observable behaviour in a judgmental or punitive way, rather than pausing to consider what the behaviour might be communicating. The author aims to model a thoughtful reflective approach to making sense of what might be going on for children and young people and this book will be of great interest to child and adolescent psychotherapists, related professionals and those with an interest in young persons’ mental health.

From the author of Imaginary Me and SIAOPE comes a book that asks the question: What if there was a world without humor and someone discovers it? Meet Jerry Stinson. He's an accountant. He has a roommate named Carl. Carl doesn't work. Jerry does. Until suddenly Jerry doesn't. Then Jerry discovers something unexpected. Unexpected with consequences. His brain tells him to say words that when spoken cause others to react in a never-before-seen way. It's something Jerry can't put a name to because his world has never experienced it before: humor, jokes, laughter. The words cause great joyfulness but also cause great harm. Now Jerry is worried. Does he share what he's discovered with others? Or keep it to himself? Bottle it up? Or pour it out? Whatever he decides will have a lasting impact on the future of his world. The latest book from Desmond Shepherd explores the importance of humor in society and emphasizes that we all have something in life to laugh for.

In November 2005, author Dirk van der Merwe received the call every parent dreads above all others. His daughter, Riana, was dead at thirty-seven. In the shocked silence that followed, both Dirk and his late wife, Elsie, underwent an unusual experience. Some would call it paranormala phenomena that is physical but cant be proven scientifically. It was a sensation so overwhelming thatnotwithstanding the intense shock, pain, and confusionit filled them with an indescribable peace and acceptance. This reaction was the exact opposite to their experience thirty-five years prior when their second baby was stillborn. The fact that Elsie experienced the same unaccountable at peace and complete acceptance sensation propelled Dirk into an exhaustive study of bereavement and natural law. Rianas Gift is the result of that investigation. It dissects and rejects all standard recommendations for dealing with death and traumatic loss. It dismisses the idea that the grief and pain of bereavement in all its forms is a life sentence that must be endured and suppressed one day at a time. It is unique in providing guidelines that allow you to live on, joyfully celebrating the spirit of the person you love without anguish or guilt, as though the pain and trauma of the loss never happened while the fond memories of the individual blissfully remain. This is guaranteed by that same natural law that leaves a new mother joyously exuberant, forgetting the recent agony of childbirth. Rianas Gift offers a hands-on manual to healing from loss and trauma with special focus on parental bereavement based on natural law.

A Christian homeschooling mom of a large family, Suzy LaBonte never imagined one of her children might die by suicide. She received an agonizing blow the day her sixteen-year-old son, Zachary, without threat or forewarning, chose to end his own life. The following months were bleak and sorrowful as Suzy struggled down a confusing path of shock, anger, guilt, and depression. Slowly putting one foot in front of the other, Suzy focused on the unfailing character of God, her husband's faithful partnership, and the hopeful faces of the children before her. Plodding and stumbling toward understanding and healing, Suzy found that God's faithful companionship and the promises of His Word lightened the darkest hours and sustained her life. Healing came slowly and with it, transforming lessons of pain and courage. With a passion to reach out to encourage other suicide survivors, Suzy shares the healing that is found in Christ Jesus. Includes a Survival Guide for those impacted by suicide and suggested resources for further support.

According to the Foundation for Suicide Prevention, every sixteen minutes someone in America dies by suicide. There were more suicide deaths of young Americans in 1995 than deaths from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza and lung disease combined. In 2010 it is still the third leading cause of death of young people ages 15-24. Studies suggest that the great majority of them suffered from a diagnosable mental illness, and that most of them received either no treatment or inadequate treatment. Ryan suffered from a mental illness, that neither he nor his family understood, that did not respond to treatment, and resulted in his death. The scar across our hearts still opens, reminding us that learning to live without him is the work of a lifetime.We are forced to face what cannot be changed, and to trust the Creator for what we cannot now see. The act of writing became for me, a spiritual journey to probe the promise of beauty within the darkness, to seek understanding in mystery, and to believe once again in life after death.