Peter CostelloThe occasion to have to break bad news to someone comes to everyone. It is, as Alan Palmer points out, simply a fact of life, yet how often it is badly, even damagingly handled. He focuses on resolving the conflict between the instinct of the person breaking the bad news to do so ‘gently’ can be reconciled with the apparently conflicting desire of the person being told the bad news for the point to be got to rapidly? In this book he reveals the dos and don’ts of breaking bad news. Palmer’s advice is based on many years’ experience of counselling.
He identified the key factors in the problem that can make a difficult situation worse. As the subtitle suggest what he says about short effective interventions is applicable in other fields too. Through his resumé of these practicalities he hopes “to contribute to the sum total of happiness”. This is a book which people in many areas of life will find of great service.