2-8 December - National Grief Awareness Week

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22.

October

2020.

2-8 December - National Grief Awareness Week - Expert author available

Good afternoon,

Death, dying and bereavement expert, Dr Esther Ramsay-Jones, is preparing for the release of her second book - The Silly Thing: Shaping the story of life & death (Free Association Books, October 31) and we'd like to send you a digital/paperback copy please!

Dr Esther is available for interviews and editorial commissions before and during

National Grief Awareness Week 2020 - 2nd to 8th December #ShareYourStory and #NGAW20

Death, grief and bereavement, especially of a loved one such as a parent, is incredibly difficult to talk about, but Esther has a beautifully calm and kind manner that allows her to communicate her own story as well as her professional experience to help others.

Dr Esther Ramsay-Jones lectures on ‘Death, Dying and Bereavement' at the Open University. Her book Holding Time: Human Need and Relationships in Dementia Care was published in 2019. She has presented her work at various locations around the world and her papers have been published in academic journals and anthologies. Esther practises as a specialist psychotherapist in palliative care, working with people with long-term conditions, and their families. Esther also works in a counselling service for older adults presenting with a range of difficulties and is a counselling tutor in London.

She has worked at the coal-face of frontline care for older people, and those with dementia, and has direct experience of the impact of dementia and terminal illness.

Beyond her work and home life, Esther loves to travel, to write, to swim, run, do yoga and enjoy time with family and good friends. She is the mother to two young children and lives in Buckinghamshire, UK.

Please see the press release below and let me know if you'd like more info! We'd be happy to help.

Thanks,

Helen Lewis

Director - Literally PR

www.literallypr.com

ADVANCE INFORMATION MEDIA SHEET

The Silly Thing

Shaping the Story of Life & Death

By Dr Esther Ramsay-Jones

The Silly Thing is an account of a woman's acceptance of and struggle with living and dying with a grade 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer of the brain. It is told from the perspective of her daughter, Esther Ramsay-Jones, a psychotherapist and academic.

The book discusses the fears that people might have about dying and specifically about brain cancer: for the author's mother, the tumour affected her speech and, as an English teacher, whose life had so intimately been tied up with language the fear of language loss was at times unbearable.

A picture containing treeDescription automatically generated From a psychotherapeutic point of view, the book explores what it means to be given a terminal diagnosis and what kinds of psychological responses the ‘patient' and family members might have. It touches on notions of family systems theory, and the roles people might then take up as reaction to the news. The author also looks at ‘difficult conversations' in palliative care - what might help/what might hinder - and the value of listening skills, capacity for attunement and containment, in staff teams and in the medical profession at large.

Though the main focus in this book is her mother's experience, vignettes from the lived experience of practising palliative psychotherapy are woven into the narrative to highlight the value of talking and sharing fears, anger, confusion, loves and gratitude with those who are dying.

About the author

She has worked at the coal-face of frontline care for older people, and those with dementia, and has direct experience of the impact of dementia and terminal illness.

ESSENTIAL DETAILS

Title:The Silly Thing

Subtitle:Shaping the Story of Life & Death

A person looking at the cameraDescription automatically generated Author:Dr Esther Ramsay-Jones