Review: As Long as You Need: Permission to Grieve

As Long as You Need: Permission to Grieve by J.S. Park
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is, quite simply, a lovely, but painful book. Written by a hospital chaplin in California, we confront the challenges of that challenging vocation, as he faces loss, grief and trauma every day, helping people who are seeing their last hours and their families and friends. Told with great compassion and even greater honesty, it is a vivid view of what goes on everyday in hospitals, but which most of us don't encounter often.

What I loved about this book is the painful honesty of the author, who isn't afraid to talk about the difficult things, but steadfastly holds space for those he encounters each day. He's honest about his own struggles and his own burnout and mental health challenges and that of his family. There were times where I could only just cry with him as his stories about grief particularly struck a chord with me.

A fair warning, of course. Park's honesty is pretty raw sometimes, so if you're in a tender place, maybe hold off reading this for a bit. It can get overwhelming.

But despite that warning, I'd recommend this not only to chaplins, but to all who work in the caring professions as a model of how to engage with suffering without being overwhelmed. Definitely worth reading.

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