The Award-Winning Book, Here to There, Grief to Peace:

An Illustrated Journey in Nine Guided Steps

Here to There, Grief to Peace:
An Illustrated Journey in Nine Guided Steps

Written and Illustrated by Diana Jacks, Ph.D.

 
The book includes a set of color reproductions of paintings depicting nine stages of tragic loss:
Impact, Despair, Resolve, Struggle, Thinking Through, Finding One’s Way, Blind-Sided, True Strength, and Peace

2005 • 96 pp
Paperback • ISBN: 0 9675532 6 1 • $12.95
[$14.95 in Canada] • Hospice Price $9.95

For information on the Here to There, Grief to Peace Workshop in a Box, click here.

    This gentle grief support book is written and illustrated by Diana Jacks, Ph.D., a retired clinical psychologist as well as a professional painter. Here to There, Grief to Peace is an outgrowth of her work with hundreds of patients coping with loss coupled with her own experience of personal tragedy. The book includes her paintings of the grief journey as separate cards to help the reader identify their emotions in the process.
    When her own world was turned upside down, Dr. Jacks worked through her grief relying on every avenue she knew. Especially important to her recovery were the paths her former clients had taken; together these brave men and women seemed to take the journey with her. Well into recovery, Dr. Jacks decided to paint her journey of growth.

“Painting these images became astonishingly therapeutic for me. As I was exploring my journey, I quickly realized how much trouble I was having with the last two paintings, an obvious sign to me that I still had a way to go in my own healing.”

    As Dr. Jacks says, “Anyone who is in grief knows the ‘Here’ and wants to be ‘There.’” The paintings are an integral part of the book and are presented as separate cards.
    The mobility of the cards has an underlying message: grief doesn’t follow a linear path to healing. The cards also carry the message of hope, with the final card being one of Peace. She writes, “Most of all, the cards give you the message that you can not only survive this tragedy, but survive it well. By that I mean you can conquer it; you can come out of this a stronger person; you can become the hero of your story.”
    Drawing on her professional and personal experience, Dr. Jacks discusses the stages of loss with compassion, gentleness, and understanding, and gives the reader practical suggestions to take every step of the way. The book is infused with encouragement, drawing from inspiring quotes throughout literature. There are exercises at the end of each chapter to help the reader find their own unique path to recovery.
    Although the book was written for the layperson, it can be a useful tool for the clinician. “A picture is worth a thousand words” opens clients to identify and share feelings. The text is broadly based and can be used with any counseling orientation. With its encouraging message of hope, it can serve as a springboard for solid therapeutic work.

“...a positive, compassionate work.”

“Dr. Jacks has done a wonderful job integrating personal experience, clinical knowledge, spiritual wisdom, and her remarkable paintings into a positive, compassionate, and lucid work.  Although written in simple, user-friendly language, Here to There, Grief to Peace contains deep and profound insights into the journey through loss.  This book will be an extremely valuable asset for anyone going through the roller-coaster of grief and for counselors who help people through this difficult time.”
—Jesse Rabinowitz, Ph.D., Director of Psychological Services, Jewish Family Services, Richmond, VA

“ Here to There, Grief to Peace is a compassionate and sensitive book that offers gentle steps to healing.  It is comforting and inspiring as well as practical, and I recommend it for people going through any kind of loss.”
—Ruth Fishel, M.Ed., author of books including Time for Joy, Living Light As a Feather, Change Almost Anything in 21 Days , Time for Peace, and Precious Solitude