To Touch a Grieving Heart

"Tears are just emotion turned liquid," grief counselor Kathleen Braza reminds us, and they're a healthy way of responding to loss. A complex emotion, grief over the death of a loved one may affect us on several different planes--emotional, physical, intellectual, social, and spiritual. Combining clips of people who have lost family and friends along with commentary by Braza, To Touch a Grieving Heart explores the grieving process, gives viewers insights into what does and doesn't work when aiding a bereaved person, and examines how funerals, memorials, and wakes, as well as other activities, serve as healing rituals. The occasional use of jargon ("griefwork," "journaling," etc. rings hard on the ear--death being the one arena where trade buzzwords don't belong--but overall the program is good, and much better than The Courage to Grieve, The Courage to Grow (VL-9/94). Recommended. (R. Pitman