The Courage To Grieve, the Courage To Grow

Presented by Judy Tatelbaum, author of The Courage to Grieve and You Don't Have to Suffer, this how-to/inspirational title is mostly a talking-head video of Tatelbaum reading a script filled with shopworn homilies on undergoing the "grieving process." With occasional cutaway shots to flowers in fields and other nature scenes, the video encourages viewers to "acknowledge and love yourself," "forgive yourself and others," "appreciate life," and so on. While there are some kernels of wisdom hidden in amongst the banal comments, there are better grieving meditation tapes on the market (such as Invincible Summer and Listen to Your Sadness [VL-10/90]). The last fifteen minutes are given over to a pair of seemingly unending demonstrations of reconciliations, in which actors--who appear to be bucking for soap opera roles--talk to an empty chair representing a lost lover and mother. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Pitman)