Rick Ritter, MSW

ISBN: 1-932690-18-2

The following review was contributed by: Sue Vogan:  To read more of Sue's reviews Click Here

Rick Ritter, through Loving Healing Press, has a winning workbook to assist the reader with "physical loss and disability."

Most of us will or know someone who will go through a physical loss or disability. In the preface, Ritter states that he has "used this workbook with more than a hundred clients over a ten year period" and has "shared it with other therapists around the country." Now, it's available for the layperson, and that's great news!

First, Ritter helps us to understand what physical loss is. He describes it as "a result of having suffered physical harm or injury -- it is a reduction of one's personal capacity to do or be." He further explains that "this can happen gradually in a declining manner or it can happen instantly as in a traumatic accident." And, "of course, there are varying degrees of physical loss."

The degrees Ritter writes about include "partial loss of function -- capacity is partially reduced or destroyed; total loss of function -- severe near total incapacitation physically" and "damaged self-image -- being deprived of what one once had." Ritter includes a partial list as an example of the losses we may encounter -- hearing, vision, scars, burns, amputation, stroke, progressive diseases, and so on.

When we suffer a physical loss or disability, it takes time to heal. But the physical healing is only part of the process. I learned that healing also includes emotional, psychological, and spiritual healing, as well. Rick Ritter makes clear that if the whole healing progression does not take place, "the person is likely to suffer emotionally and enter into a state of chronic stress. This in turn will lead to further physical losses, and handicap the immune system as well."

Ritter reminds us that "there is something you can do to come to terms with your loss" and “it is in our best interest to recover from these losses as completely as we can, that we may live our lives at the highest possible level of functioning and quality." Who doesn’t want to live life to the fullest?

The first chapter assesses where you are this moment in time and who "you see yourself as having been prior to this current loss."  Next, you are asked to address your support system and what areas of your life have "been affected by this loss."

As you turn the pages, the questions ask the reader to reach deep inside for answers. Exploring shame, guilt, resentment, anger, sadness, relief, frustration, and jealousy may be difficult at first, but it's all part of the healing process. Ritter points out that "the Chinese language uses the same symbol in written form for "crisis" and "opportunity"."  To me, that's what this workbook is all about -- a choice between living with the crisis or turning the crisis into an opportunity.

Rick Ritter shares his own physical loss and disability story; and has included book and film titles, and organization contacts to help you heal further.

If you're serious about total healing, this workbook is a great place to start.