Companion Through The Darkness

A brave and compassionate look at mental illness that offers theological understanding and personal insights from author's experiences.

As a result of her own experience with many kind of loss, Stephanie Ericsson offers an intimate, profoundly touching guide for those in grief, legitimizing the complex and often taboo emotions we all feel when loss transforms our lives. In Companion Through the Darkness, Stephanie Ericsson defines grief as "the constant reawakening that things are now different." Using a very simple format -- which combines excerpts from her own diary writings with brief essays -- she vividly speaks the language of loss and captures the contradictory, wrenching, and chaotic emotions of grief. The book can be opened at any point to chapters no more than a few pages long on such themes as: Abandonment: The sudden state I am forced into. I no longer belong to you. I no longer belong to anyone. Rage: The state I use to survive seemingly moments of intolerable pain. Humor: The backside of agony. Pity: The look on people's faces when they haven't a clue what to say to me. Transition: The moments, strung out over months, when I know I am no longer the woman I was, but not quite the woman I am becoming. The result is compelling, intimate, and heartbreakingly truthful -- a book that promises to be enormously sought-after support and touchstone for all those making their own journey through grief.

The church's relationship with depression has been fraught: for centuries, depression was assumed to be evidence of personal sin or even demonic influence. The depressed have often been ostracized or institutionalized. In recent years the conversation has begun to change, and the stigma has lessened—but as anyone who suffers from depression knows, we still have a long way to go. In Companions in the Darkness, Diana Gruver looks back into church history and finds depression in the lives of some of our most beloved saints, including Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King Jr. Without trying to diagnose these figures from a distance, Gruver tells their stories in fresh ways, taking from each a particular lesson that can encourage or guide those who suffer today. Drawing on her own experience with depression, Gruver offers a wealth of practical wisdom both for those in the darkness and those who care for them. Not only can these saints teach us valuable lessons about the experience of depression, they can also be a source of hope and empathy for us today. They can be our companions in the darkness.

As a result of her own experience with many kind of loss, Stephanie Ericsson offers an intimate, profoundly touching guide for those in grief, legitimizing the complex and often taboo emotions we all feel when loss transforms our lives. In Companion Through the Darkness, Stephanie Ericsson defines grief as "the constant reawakening that things are now different." Using a very simple format -- which combines excerpts from her own diary writings with brief essays -- she vividly speaks the language of loss and captures the contradictory, wrenching, and chaotic emotions of grief. The book can be opened at any point to chapters no more than a few pages long on such themes as: Abandonment: The sudden state I am forced into. I no longer belong to you. I no longer belong to anyone. Rage: The state I use to survive seemingly moments of intolerable pain. Humor: The backside of agony. Pity: The look on people's faces when they haven't a clue what to say to me. Transition: The moments, strung out over months, when I know I am no longer the woman I was, but not quite the woman I am becoming. The result is compelling, intimate, and heartbreakingly truthful -- a book that promises to be enormously sought-after support and touchstone for all those making their own journey through grief.

Jane Eyre meets Twilight in Dark Companion, a lush and romantic YA gothic tale about an orphaned girl who attends an exclusive private school and finds herself torn between the headmistress's two sons. Orphaned at the age of six, Jane Williams has grown up in a series of foster homes, learning to survive in the shadows of life. Through hard work and determination, she manages to win a scholarship to the exclusive Birch Grove Academy. There, for the first time, Jane finds herself accepted by a group of friends. She even starts tutoring the headmistress's gorgeous son, Lucien. Things seem too good to be true. They are. The more she learns about Birch Grove's recent past, the more Jane comes to suspect that there is something sinister going on. Why did the wife of a popular teacher kill herself? What happened to the former scholarship student, whose place Jane took? Why does Lucien's brother, Jack, seem to dislike her so much? As Jane begins to piece together the answers to the puzzle, she must find out why she was brought to Birch Grove—and what she would risk to stay there.... At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

'This is a book that takes you by the hand and promises the gentlest comfort in the darkest of times.' Tamsin Greig A Grief Companion offers us practical help to use alongside the theory of Sasha Bate's debut book, Languages of Loss. This guide gives us the starting points to begin our journeys of managing grief, providing us with space and pages to explore and process our feelings with Sasha's expert guidance. Sasha offers some optimism to let you know that you will find light and courage from out of this darkness, and you will be transformed by it. Your grief will not leave you, but you will arrange yourself around it differently. Split in to four sections, that can be read in any order - Mind, Body, Spirit and Everyday - this book explores the non-linear grief that you may be feeling and gives you permission to do your grief, your way. Filled with suggestions, resources, advice for friends of the bereaved and a guiding hand, we hope this book will help you see some light in the darkness of grief. 'Explaining how the mind and body work together, A Grief Companion offers insights into the process of grieving. The writing is energetic, down-to-earth and honest as Sasha Bates helps readers cope with the many layers and levels of grief. A useful as well as a moving book.' Cathy Rentzenbrink, author of A Manual for Heartache

When Elaine was working late at the office, she thought she was all alone. But something sinister was in the elevator shaft--working its way to her floor. Miles, too, thought he was alone in his new house, the house of a murderer, but he, too, had an unwanted companion. And Knox will never forget what had been waiting for him in the dense fog.

Consider this handbook your education. Hunter 101. And don't go thinking you got off easy just because there's not a pop quiz at the end. This is the good stuff. The real deal. In here you'll find out all there is to know about being a Dark-Hunter. Now for the disclaimer: This book is mutable. It goes with the wind. It changes more often than the mind of a sixteen-year-old Gemini with a closet full of clothes and a date in an hour. Don't be surprised if you open it up for the thirty-five thousandth time and find something old, something new, something borrowed or. . .well you get the point. Curl up in a comfy chair with some millennium-old scotch and feast upon the informative banquet I have prepared for your enjoyment. Welcome to your new life. ---From the Dark-Hunter Companion