ILLNESS, CRISIS & LOSS, Vol. 20(4) 389-395, 2012 Commentaries THE (HALF) TRUTH ABOUT GRIEF ROBERT A. NEIMEYER, PH.D University of Memphis, Tennessee ABSTRACT The recent critique of the bereavement field offered by author Ruth Davis Konigsberg takes grief theorists and researchers to task for perpetuating self-serving stage-based models of mourning that ignore the resilience of most bereaved people, while promulgating a form of grief counseling that is neither necessary nor effective. In this commentary I underscore the truth embedded in her analysis, but also the half-truths that result from its sim- plification and neglect of broader considerations. Key Words: stage theory of grief, violent death, effectiveness of grief therapy, grief industry In her briskly selling exposé of bereavement theory and practice, “The Truth About Grief,” Ruth Davis Konigsberg (2011) turns an unflinching eye to what she considers the field’s chief foibles: its unwarranted reliance on simplistic stage theories of grief, the unduly pessimistic depiction of human adaptation after loss, the dubious efficacy of grief counseling, and the export of American models of mourning to other cultures. The virtues of the book follow from her journal- istic background: the book is clearly and cleanly written, utterly lacking the turbid text and occasionally pretentious pedantry of academic prose, and devel- oping a compelling story line that can be appreciated by a trade book audience comprised mainly of the general public. By the same token, the same journalistic 389 Ó 2012, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/IL.20.4.g http://baywood.com