Rachel Remen trained to be a medical doctor. It was through her work as a physician that she realized that often what is most healing for patients is not treatment, medicine, or procedures -- it is relationship. In this book, she explores the power of relationship as she has been taught by her grandfather, her patients, and their families. She looks at the struggles people face with chronic illnesses, death, and loss -- and she focuses on the strength, life, and blessings that are present in each situation.

This book is powerful for me as a person and as a counselor. I mark passages and write responses in the margins and return to read them over and over again. As a counselor, I have led many groups and even retreats based around her stories of blessings. In one group I adapted a weekly blessing her grandfather did with her; members were invited to offer one another a blessing. Her rituals and stories are easy to adapt for group activities. Though the topics are often dark and sad, the book is uplifting and inspiring. Her final two topics -- Befriending Life and Restoring the World -- show how even in the dark there is growth and light.

If I were training new counselors, this is a book I would insist they read, for it vividly paints a picture of the value of silence, of honoring people's pain, and of simply "being" with someone. I also recommend it to anyone -- counselor or client -- whose life is touched by chronic or terminal illness.