Handbook of Stressful Transitions Across the Lifespan (PDF)

acquiring a comprehensive understanding of the impact of stress across the life cycle. Drawing from a range of international perspectives and scientific disciplines, this collection masterfully succeeds in combining breadth of scope with richness of detail by exploring life transitions through a variety of personal, theoretical, and clinical lenses. Whether working at the bench or the bedside, this handbook will prove invaluable to a wide cross section of professionals working in the fields of medicine, psychology, counseling, and education.

- William P. French MD, Department of Psychiatry, Seattle Children Hospital & University of Washington



"The Handbook of stressful transitions across the lifespan is a substantial tome. The Handbook is directed at both practitioners and researchers. A rich mixture indeed! It builds on the editor’s earlier series of publications on stressful life events (Miller 1989, 1996, 1997, 1998). Overall, it is Erik Erikson’s theory of lifespan development that receives most detailed attention, including Clark’s pschobiographical analysis. Weitzel writes eloquently and unsentimentally about his experience of Parkinson’s disease. Then, three of the five authors of a chapter on the aftermath of unexpected traumatic change recount – in one case with the assistance of another of the authors - their experience of living through serious, sudden and unexpected trauma. Williams’ chapter focuses specifically on what he terms transition psychology, which he uses to consider and indeed predict responses to, amongst other things, mass traumas such as natural disasters and terrorist attacks. You will find chapters that are primarily scholarly discussions and overviews - including Lacković-Grgin and Penezić’s (chapter 22) on self-regulation and Wheeler’s (chapter 26) on African-centered spirituality and its role of in facilitating transition. Elsewhere, there is discussion of more narrowly defined or practically-oriented topics – including nutrition (Ilich and Brownbill, chapter 31), animal and animal-assisted therapy (Adams, chapter 32), the role of humour (Kuhn, Nichols and Belew, chapter 33), and the need for financial planning (Boardmann, chapter 15). In the best tradition of Handbooks, such variety leads readers into new and varied fields of inquiry. I do have a few minor quibbles. I was surprised to see no mention of Erikson’s ‘ninth stage’ (Erikson, 1997), or of the associated theorizing and research on gerotranscendence (for example, Tornstam, 2005). But these criticisms are small beer. Whilst this is not perhaps a book to be read cover-to-cover, it is certainly a book to be consulted, mined and returned to. Miller’s Handbook of stressful transitions across the lifespan is undoubtedly a wide ranging and valuable reference text."

- Dr Léonie Sugarman, Reader in Applied Psychology, University of Cumbria

“For this valuable collection, Miller gathered expert papers addressing key issues in life transitions ranging from college to the workplace and including, for example, refugee displacement and resettlement and the transition to adoptive parenthood--a broad, ambitious scope. … This handbook should interest anyone interested in lifespan studies and the state of research on it. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers.” (P. Flattau, Choice, Vol. 47 (11), July, 2010)