Susan Powers, Ph.D.

psychotherapist and author of Ruthless Grieving

A weeping cherry tree grows in my front yard, a gift from friends who wept with me

when my daughter Chris died.

Ruthless Grieving

Being your authentic self in the face of loss

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Dr. Susan Powers Takes Us Beyond the Five Stages of Grief and Explores the Intensive Emotional Work for Surviving Traumatic Loss

SAM PAXHIA

Walking on Air:

Creating Your Life with an Open Heart

Preview to Susan's new book, coming fall 2021

"Dr. Susan Powers uses her considerable training and knowledge as a clinical psychologist, as well as her experience as one who has 'been there' to open up a deep and necessary dialogue on grief.  I have no doubt that Susan will be helping people for decades to come as a result."  

--  Tian Dayton, Ph,D.

Ruthless Grieving:

The Journey to Acceptance and Beyond

A Rare Combination of Memoir and Helpful Wisdom

from Clinical Psychologist Dr. Susan Powers.

The book, Ruthless Grieving, The Journey to Acceptance and Beyond is a combination of a deeply emotional memoir of someone who lost her husband and daughter within three months time, and a book about grieving written by a clinical psychologist who has been in private practice for over thirty years. The book contains emotional wisdom as well as practical suggestions to guide anyone through deep loss and grief.

Unity and Spirituality

A Talk by Susan Powers

New Thought Spiritual Center Watermill NY

June 30th, 2019 

The KIRKUS REVIEW of RUTHLESS GRIEVING

In this debut memoir and self-help guide, Dr. Susan Powers examines the grieving process from firsthand experience, using the informative language of clinical psychology.

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In 2001, the author, a psychologist, suffered two immense losses: her husband, Bob, died after a battle with kidney cancer, and her daughter, Chris, was the victim of a heroin overdose. Distraught, devastated, and lost, she turned to her background in clinical psychology for guidance. At the start of the book, she declares that “we must match the ruthlessness of grief with our own zealous action....I might have remained lost if I hadn’t given the process all of my attention and creative energy.”

Thus, she deeply examines the titular concept of “ruthless grieving” by relating her own journey “through to the other side of loss.” She explains how the experience can be different for every person. For example, she says that her husband’s death was peaceful, surrounded by friends and family; several months of sickness prepared them all for his passing. She notes that there was time to tie up loose ends, work out paperwork, express love, and ponder spirituality together.

By contrast, she says, the death of her daughter, less than three months later, was a horrifying shock. The author doesn’t shy away from divulging her own deep, complicated feelings about what she calls the “unheroic death” of her daughter, and devotes a good portion of the book to examining different ways of coping with losses brought on by addiction and suicide.

Her story forges a continuous narrative through various aspects of therapy, creating an engaging yet informative read. The book’s rawness and truth is commendable and, at times, heartbreaking. It’s no easy feat to confront such torturous feelings head on, and Powers does so with love, valor, and unwavering perseverance.

Although the book has a tendency to be redundant, it works overall, as the author encourages readers “to pick and choose sections of the book as your interest and needs develop.” Interactive questions and a “Twelve Steps of Grieving” guide are useful, clever tools to assist readers who wish to write about their own grieving process in order to better understand themselves.

An essential book for those struggling with grief, and particularly those suffering from the loss of a loved one through addiction.

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