Speaking of Dying

A Practical Guide to Using Counselling Skills in Palliative Care

…members of the caring professions need all the counselling skills that we can muster. Readers of this book will end up feeling less helpless in the face of death but we should not expect to find communication easy. “What can we say?” Once we think we know what to say we are wrong. Rather this book will help us to learn when to speak of dying and when not to, what not to say and when to keep silent and wait patiently for what gliding instructors call an 'up-draught'. We must start from wherever the other person may be and we must take the time and trouble to discover the language with which this person speaks about death and dying, the assumptions they make and their needs and wishes to speak or not to speak.
– From the Foreword by Dr Colin Murray Parkes, Life President of Cruse Bereavement Care

Good counselling skills are often not taught to the professionals who need them most. Compassionate and tactful communication skills can make the difference between an awkward encounter with a dying patient, and an engaging, empathic bond between two people.

Louis Heyse-Moore draws on his wealth of experience as a trained counsellor and palliative medicine specialist. Covering difficult subjects such as breaking the news of terminal illness to a patient, euthanasia and the effect of working with patients on carers, Speaking of Dying is a practical guide to using counselling skills for all clinical disciplines working in palliative care, whether in a hospice, hospital or at home.

Complete with a clear explanation of both counselling and medical terminology, this hands-on guide will be an invaluable companion to anyone working in palliative care.