Customer Reviews
a good workbook 
2006-01-15
Rebeccasreads highly recommends COPING WITH PHYSICAL LOSS AND DISABILITY as a much-needed primer in this time of War against Global Terrorism, as more & more of our beloved Warriors return home from the battlefields injured & maimed.
It behooves us, one & all, to learn what physical loss means to them & their families. COPING WITH PHYSICAL LOSS AND DISABILITY, with quotations from world famous people who live with life-altering losses & diseases, is an easily read workbook with stories, exercises & images easily understood & transferred into your everyday world.
At the very least, it will give you some insights on how to meet & greet those of us who are permanently injured or surviving illness.
Ideal for someone new to MS 2006-01-03
This workbook would be ideal for someone new to MS, when they are having to formulate who they are,versus the disease process.
It is important how you see yourself at every step along the way. At this junction, in my own experience, I have developed strong coping skills, my own sense of joy with life, has been my mainstay.
Thank you Rick for caring about others. It is a very healing virtue. If I could share with others, what I have found to be the most helpful of all things, I would tell them that God's love is best and then all other loves. Even the most minute show of caring by others, warms the heart. It strengthens and works like a tonic. Thank you Victor Volkman for sending my copy of this book.
An excellent tool for helping professionals 2005-11-11
When your body no longer works the way it is supposed to, you lose far more than physical function. While some people can focus on what they have left and get on with life, for most of us physical loss involves grieving, changes in how we value ourselves, even disgust and shame.
This is why Rick Ritter's workbook will be invaluable for anyone who has been damaged in any of a very wide range of ways: surgery, accident, violence, disease, even aging. Helping professionals working with people whose problems focus on physical losses will need this book on a daily basis.
Rick developed the exercises in the book over a long time. When he uses them himself, his own example as a survivor of physical loss is no doubt enough to lead and inspire his client. To achieve the same end, he has enlivened the book with many individual examples and case stories. This lifts the book from the useful to the indispensable.
I edited this book for the publisher, Loving Healing Press, and feel honored to have been associated with it.
Dr Bob Rich is the author of 'Cancer: A personal challenge' [...]
Best Used In A Professional Setting 
2007-01-15
After reading the other reviews I purchased this book. I have a degenerative muscle disease for which there is no treatment. Although I have coped fairly well up to this point, I was finding myself more and more isolated. As I answered the questions, I felt it would be better if I were going through this process with a professional. I answered as fully as I was able, but there doesn't seem to be any suggestions as to what to do with this information. The book suggests that you share your answers with three people. In my case that wasn't possible.I can see that it would be useful in conjunction with therapy. Without that professional input, the book left me hanging.
Just the help we needed. 2006-08-01
As we prepared for our oldest daughter's amputaion, I searched for something to help guide us along as a family. This work book is wonderful. Although my daughter was emotionally ready for her loss, Rick Ritter was able to better address some of what we may have missed prior to her surgery. I strongly recomend this book for anyone dealing with physical loss them selves or that of a loved one. Joi Warburton, Las Vegas, NV
An outstanding workbook! 2006-05-31
Rick Ritter has written a superb self-help workbook that will benefit readers who have suffered a physical loss or disability. Ritter has included 50 questions to be answered by the reader. He recommends these answers be shared with at least three other people. In responding to these questions, the reader is able to reflect on his or her disability or physical loss. The book engages the reader in discovering ways to deal with their physical loss. To those readers who have experienced such a loss, the workbook will provide a sense of empowerment to those still in grief or depression.
Ritter himself has experienced his own disability. As a social worker(MSW), he has had the opportunity to work with 100 people who have suffered a physical loss or disability. His workbook provides a roadmap for readers to follow to reach attainable goals.
Also included are interesting short stories of people he has worked with ranging from amputation, breast cancer, muscular dystrophy, AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, and quadriplegia. He recounts how these people were able to cope with their loss.
Having a disability or having suffered a physical loss doesn't necessarily lead to unhappiness. How one responds to that loss is what really matters. Rick also uses spirituality, support systems, and holistic methods as an approach to coping with the loss. Resiliency is crucial in facing any loss or disability.
As a mother of a son with cerebral palsy, I can see how this workbook could be very useful. He is now a happy young man working as an attorney. His disability didn't stop him from being productive. Also, having battled my own muscle disease along with rheumatoid arthritis, I found it helpful. As the daughter of a mother transfused with HIV contaminated blood, I can see how this workbook could have benefited her.
The resources included at the end of his book are certainly a bonus. He has listed helpful organizations, suggested reading, and films relating to physical loss and disability.
Rick Ritter has given his readers a wonderful gift. "Coping with Physical Loss and Disability" is an empowering book that will benefit many readers. I highly recommend this workbook. Thank you, Rick for caring. Your workbook will be appreciated by many people.
Nancy A. Draper (Author) A Burden of Silence: My Mother's Battle with AIDS
Recommended!! 2006-05-05
Reviewed by Christina Gonzalez, LMHC for Reader Views (5/06)
The author starts this very unique workbook with a compelling quote from Christopher Reeve, "So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable". This book is a way to help those who have found their dreams become impossible, find new ways to restructure their life, their ways of thinking and their ways of being in order to find ways to help their dreams become inevitable.
This book is oriented towards those who have experienced some type of a physical loss, whether from a disability, accident or including serious, chronic illnesses and pain. His examples range from people who have suffered knee injuries to quadriplegics, to individuals who have undergone a mastectomy from breast cancer to debilitating illnesses like muscular dystrophy. I would see value for individuals with ANY chronic health condition benefiting enormously from this book.
The author suggests that individuals who use this book consult with at least three people in their lives with whom they can share the results of the exercises which is very wise. The author takes the reader through a series of written exercises and anecdotes through six main chapters: Past and Future, Self Care and Support, Dealing with Loss: Feelings and Beliefs, Understanding Disability, Transforming Circumstance, and The Ongoing Process of Loss and Recovery. Each of these remain only questions and words on paper until the reader takes these questions and looks into their lives and then shares them with another.
As a therapist I will be recommending this book to my clients who are struggling with any chronic health issues. I would love to use this workbook with my clients in their therapy as well as suggest they share the information obtained about themselves with others in their lives. The author includes some excellent exercises to help the reader determine what people in their lives might be supportive to this process of recovery from physical loss and/or any chronic health condition.
The appendices include some excellent resources regarding therapeutic techniques and alternatives, suggested reading for coping with loss and disability, films on issues related to physical loss and disability, guidelines for watching films, and a listing of organizations and other resources that can help individuals coping with loss and disability.
As the mother of a child with Cerebral Palsy and as a psychotherapist myself, I found this book to be highly valuable for people dealing with any type of physical loss. As I mentioned above, just buying the book will not do anything. Filling out the exercises will help, but will not make a huge change. Filling out the exercise, following the author on the journey that he is leading the reader on and sharing with those close to the reader will make a great deal of difference. Some of the exercises I found helpful for those suffering from debilitating mental or emotional illnesses and even less acute health conditions such as asthma or others. This book is highly recommended to any individual who has suffered a physical loss and is still struggling to find their dreams. It would make a great gift from a supportive loved one who is also willing to make a stand to be there with the reader as they go through these exercises, and it would make an excellent aid to an individual who is currently seeing a therapist. I would not recommend this to someone who just wants to do the exercises randomly, haphazardly or in order to just keep their answers to themselves and not share them with another.
Help for anyone with a physical loss or disability 2006-01-15
Rick Ritter, MSW, has created an easy-to-use resource to help people confront a life-changing illness or disability. He could simply give good advice, relying upon his experiences as a disabled veteran, a social worker, and a competitor in events for disabled athletes. Instead, he engages the reader in answering questions, gathering support, finding resources, and taking a completely positive approach to difficult situations.
I love the workbook format, because it forces the reader to begin thinking about and acting upon ways to continue with a life that has become altered. Of course, altered doesn't mean over. It just means different. Ritter avoids sugar-coating those differences or the emotional, social, and physical problems that accompany them. However, he ultimately provokes the reader into finding ways to deal with those obstacles.
Ritter ends with a brief but inspiring look at his life, followed by a variety of resources. I suggest his workbook as a great beginning for anyone facing physical loss or disability.
