Adding the E: Perspectives of Grief Through Recounts, Letters, and Poetry

By Arielle Sokoll-Ward, LCSW

PSYCHOLOGY / Grief & Loss

FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS / Death, Grief, Bereavement

POETRY / Subjects & Themes / Death, Grief, Loss

Synopsis

Here’s the thing about grief: It doesn’t take someone special to understand that you are going through pain. But unless you get it, you don’t get it. Grief is harrowing, isolating, and all-encompassing. After experiencing a significant loss, it’s not uncommon to adopt a narrative that we are alone, and no one understands what we go through. Grief and trauma therapist, Arielle Sokoll-Ward, LCSW, challenges those beliefs by uncovering her most honest form: Raw, abraded, unapologetic grief. Within these pages, you are invited to find the language that describes your own grief as Arielle shares her journey through the emotional havoc of surviving the death of her partner through ongoing narrative, letters, and poetry. She explores how the losses that are riding shotgun in our life can connect us closer to each other in familiar lived experiences, leading to our own resilience. Pulling from a series of responses from her research on the lived experience of grief and anonymously sharing client experiences within the therapeutic space, Arielle provides explanations, common themes, and insights on the grieving process. Loss goes far beyond death. Grief and love are a paired partnership; one does not exist without the other. So, if you have felt either, this book is for you.

About the Author

Arielle Sokoll-Ward, LCSW is a passionate grief and trauma therapist, Level II Certified Clinical Trauma Professional and trained EMDR clinician. She has been professionally speaking since 2014 and a 2019 TEDx speaker on finding resilience within grief. Arielle lives in Austin, TX. Find out more at ArielleSW.com.

Reviews

"Arielle Sokoll-Ward has done a remarkable job of using a devastating life experience to help others. She literally emerged from the depths of grief to become a healer who now guides others through their own adversity and trauma. In this book, Arielle uses narrative, poetry, first-hand accounts, and professional expertise to share insights and hope for those who have experienced loss and for those who will—which, by the way, is all of us.”

‒Ron Culberson

Speaker, Author, and Former Hospice Social Worker

"Look, this is a tough read. Talking honestly about raw, painful things is taboo. But that's why this book is necessary. If you have ever felt alone in your grief, you'll get words for what you've experienced here. Or if you want to understand what someone else is going through, you'll get real insight here. You don't have to read it in order if it's too much. Arielle includes her own story throughout, but sometimes, the most impactful for me were the stories others trusted her enough to share.”

‒Ivy Le

Host, Writer, and Producer of FOGO: Fear of Going Out

"Arielle’s raw and powerful sharing of her own grief journey gives us the courage to face our own challenging stories and really be here for ourselves with compassion. Feeling is the true lasting path to freedom from our wounds, and Arielle guides us there with grace, vulnerable honesty and skillful companionship.”

‒Erika Allison

Author of Gay the Pray Away:

Healing Your Life, Love, and Relationships from the

Harms of LGBT Conversion Therapy

"Profoundly raw and honest book about love, grief, and healing. In Adding the E: Perspectives of Grief through Recounts, Letters, and Poetry, Arielle extends a deeply personal invitation into her own life-altering loss and journey as well as the journey of others. The book eloquently captures the inexplicable pain that is born from loss. From a place of real vulnerability, Arielle shares how the process of healing from grief can come from moments of clarity - and sometimes even joy - to honor the life lost and those left behind.”

‒Saman Akhtar, MS/MBA

"Arielle Sokoll-Ward's Adding the E is the gut-wrenching and raw, yet painfully beautiful tribute that you didn't know you needed in your life. Trust me - you do. Her pure, unfiltered words dig beneath the surface and allow the reader to experience the gritty, evolving, and even sometimes utterly delightful emotions Arielle felt as she grieved for the loss of her companion and beyond. Worth a read, and then worth sharing with others.”

‒Mikki J. Gates, SHRM-SCP

TEDxManitouSprings Curator and Escape Room Addict

"In a portrait of deep, startling grief, we are taken by the hand through someone’s darkest days. Arielle bravely and vividly shows us the ripple effects of trauma with each story, letter, and memory shared. Adding the E is a testament to the resiliency, beauty, and debilitating heartbreak of being a human bonded to another through love and loss. Through this powerful lens, it is hard not to also be struck by how we could better show up for those around us who are facing their own journeys with grief.”

‒Danielle E. Cochran

COO, Quality of Life Care, LLC

End-of-Life Advocate

Adding the E: Perspectives of Grief Through Recounts, Letters, and Poetry

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