Working with loss and grief must be recognized as an area which needs special attention and special training. This manual is designed for the course leader who wishes to promote the needs of bereaved people, and to help those professionals, voluntary groups and individuals who choose to work with them to develop their self-awareness, confidence and skills. The word 'bereavement' describes the experience of loss; the bereaved are those who have lost. Many people identify the word only with death, but throughout this manual it is used in relation to any type of emotional significant loss.

The material included in the manual is specifically designed so that it can be taught not only by the experienced trainer, but also by course leaders who have had little experience. There is an emphasis on encouraging course participants to work with both their own experiences of loss and grief, and their subsequent coping mechanisms, to provide a basis on which to build their intervention with clients suffering a loss.