In what has repeatedly been called her most important book, Verena Kast examines the role of mourning in the therapeutic process.Working as a psychotherapist, Verena Kast has often observed depressive illnesses caused by painful losses, which have not been adequately mourned. Traditionally, mourning has not been a subject of psychologists’ attention.She uses dreams to illustrate the stages of mourning and shows systematically how the unconscious stimulates us to encounter our grief. Mourning marks an end but it also fosters personal growth. It is a time of renewal, a time for incubation, for introspection, for going into oneself to gather strength, as a seed goes deep into the earth to find the resources for striving toward the light.

Verena Kast was born in Appenzell, Switzerland. She was Professor of Psychology at the University of Zurich, and is immediate past President of the Curatorium and a training analyst at the C.G. Jung Institute. She has lectured throughout the world and is the author of numerous successful books on psychological issues, among others, "A Time to Mourn", "Sisyphus: a Jungian approach to Midlife Crisis" and "The Nature of Loving".