Dr Colin Murray Parkes is President of CRUSE and has worked in the area of dying and bereavement since 1959.Marilyn Relf is Bereavement Senior Manager at Sir Michael Sobell House, an NHS Hospice.Ann Couldrick is a counsellor at Sir Michael Sobell House Bereavement Service, UK.

'All nurses will be familiar with many of the case histories with which the book is well illustrated, many which relate directly to the environment of the practice nurse ... Although the book focuses on the counselling needed by the patient and family at times of death and bereavement many of the principles discussed and the techniques which are used have an enormous value in other circumstances such as following attempted suicide, alcohol abuse, depression, aggression or chronic anxiety. It is in these areas that the book may be of even greater use to the practice nurse.'Practice Nurse. ' "Thoughtful and practical" is how the publisher describes this book by three authors who have made a massive contribution to the development of contemporary bereavement care. This is a fair assessment. This book is written in a straightforward language, with many case studies which provide practical illustrations of approaches, but it retains a sense of the complexity of human beings and attempts to set any presumptions offered within a framework of recognising diversity.' Progress in Palliative Care.

• 1. Families in transition. 2. The caring team.3. Counselling skills.4. Counselling for life-threatening illness.5. Counselling the family before bereavement.6. Counselling the family after bereavement.7. Problems in counselling.