Barbara’s resources give trauma-informed professionals the tools they need to be grief-informed and vicarious trauma-informed. As a leading thanatologist, Barbara’s books focus on traumatic loss and burnout, secondary traumatic stress, empathic strain, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma.
Books
But I Didn’t Say Goodbye: Helping Families After a Suicide (2020)
Third Revised Updated Edition
- WINNER of Living Now Book Award 2020
- WINNER of IndieReader Discovery Award 2020
- Read Review from the INTAMS Library, page 290, a highly specialized, international, and multi-disciplinary collection of scholarly works in the field of marriage and family.
But I Didn’t Say Goodbye: Helping Families After a Suicide tells the story, from the perspective of an eleven-year-old boy, Alex, and his family, as they are rocked by suicide and reeling from the aftermath. Through Alex’s eyes, the reader sees the transformation of feelings after going through a suicide from a child’s perspective, although he has the wisdom of a bereaved adult.
New to the third edition, each chapter ends with Alex reflecting 10 years later on his experience, introducing family and friends in his recollections. Barbara Rubel has combined our modern academic theories of grieving, and the research that supports those theories, and then translated them into a readable story for anyone bereaved by suicide.
The revised edition is an evidence-informed and contemporary treatment of a devastating form of loss that uses a hypothetical case study to render it in human terms. Through the story, the reader will understand what losing someone to suicide might be like for a family, how to make meaning, and ways to experience personal growth. This book provides guidance and education for clinicians and families to help suicide loss survivors.
Part 1 offers a basic understanding of suicide postvention, complicated grief, mourning theories, and the impact on clinician survivors. Chapters have been updated, based on mourning models and the latest research.
The chapters in Part 2 build upon one another from the day of the suicide to the anniversary. At the end of each chapter, there are follow-up questions to explore in counseling sessions, support groups, therapy sessions, or at home. At the end of each chapter, Alex, at the age of 21, reflects back on how his father’s death has changed his life, wounding him, but also helping him to grow.
This award winning book explores a trauma-informed and grief-informed approach to helping those who are traumatically bereaved.
Loss, Grief, and Bereavement, 5th Edition
As the author of the first four editions, Barbara Rubel is pleased to announce that she is the course editor and reviewer of the 5th edition of Loss, Grief, and Bereavement. Colibri Healthcare, LLC is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
KEYS TO A GOOD LIFE: Wisdom to Unlock Your Power Within
Contributing Author
If you want to mitigate the impact of burnout, read, Keys to a Good life: Wisdom to Unlock Your Power Within. This resource is a collaboration of insights from people who have experienced transformation either through an outside circumstance or by an inward call for change. As a contributor, I shared a story, ideas, and lessons in order to guide you through your personal life journey. This handbook of wisdom reminds you that you have the power within to create the life of your dreams. Addressing everyday issues, 31 experts help you achieve work-life balance, prevent burnout and manage the stressors in your life.
Fresh Grief: Inspirational Stories
Contributing Author
The first year after you lose someone you love can be frightening, isolating, even bewildering at times. Sometimes you just feel totally lost. In this gentle grief support book, you will read articles written by many others who have walked the path of grief and loss. These contributors to the Open to Hope Foundation offer companionship and advice to help readers weather these first painful, rocky months when the tunnel of grief feels never-ending.
Thin Threads Stories – Grief & Renewal
Contributing Author
Barbara shares the story of her father’s suicide in this edition of Grief and Renewal. Other stories offer solace to those who have experienced the loss of their loved ones. They are real stories of life changing moments. With only 54 pages, this little gem is an easy read for those who are struggling with the stressors of loss.
