Saying Goodbye to Live. The Metaphor of Grief Experiences

Before you is a deck of metaphorical associative cards specifically created for psychological work with grief and loss. It contains 64 images that metaphorically reflect various aspects of human experiences during loss, and 32 auxiliary cards with unfinished phrases. In creating the deck, the authors aimed for the greatest possible ambiguity of the images, so many of the cards in the deck may appear resourceful to different people or even to the same person in different states, as well as expressing negative experiences.

Losses and bereavements are not joyful, unwanted, but inevitable companions of our lives. Each of us will experience the bitterness of loss and the pain of separation sooner or later. And it is unlikely that among helping professionals there will be someone who can avoid this topic in their work. When talking about loss here and further, we present this concept in a broad context: not only the death of a loved one but also any loss or sudden separation, the consequences of which are painful and undesirable for a person.

The list of topics covered by psychological work with loss is extensive: loss of a loved one (death, divorce, separation, breakup); loss of self-image; loss of a sense of security (sudden and forced changes, moves, divorces, infidelities, being in a war zone, natural disasters); loss of the future (loss of a loved one, terminal diagnoses).

Despite everything, loss – no matter how immense and heavy it is – can be endured. Completed loss (always!) leaves us stronger than we were before. It becomes, though sad, an experience we can rely on and through which we grow. And even if the loss is irreplaceable and irreversible, there are precious memories, there is gratitude and remembrance. And there is our inner dialogue with what we hold dear, there is the continuing influence of the lost on our lives. To say goodbye to something or someone does not mean to forget. It means to accept the irreversibility of what has happened and to take the best out of it. To live on.

The set includes:

64 cards with images (drawings);

32 cards with unfinished sentences;

instructions.