Grief Counseling
Experiencing loss can have a long-term effect on a person, especially if that loss is deeply personal, such as the loss of a loved one. Grief counseling thus exists to ease a person through the grief process, which is never the same for anyone. According to Jane V. Bissler, the stages of grief have been "borrowed" from the five stages of dying, yet these are not the same at all and thinking so is incorrect. Whereas with dying, a person goes through denial, anger, compromise, depression and acceptance, the stages of grief are not an exact number, or in a specific order, and will depend on what the loss consisted of. For example, some people go through anger and others through depression and some go through both. Thus, the grief process cannot be generalized. This paper will develop on the topic of grief counseling to better explain how to help those who are experiencing grief, be it in a family situation, with the loss of a child or the loss of a parent, or otherwise, and will end by reviewing psychology literature on this topic. [1: Bissler, J. (2009). "Five Stages of Grief: Myth or Consequence?" Counseling for Loss and Life Changes, Inc. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from . ]
To begin, grief counseling is a form of therapy, with a focus on helping an individual grieve and address personal loss in a healthy manner. This type of counseling is offered by psychologists, counselors, social workers, and even clergy members or support groups, whether led by a professional or by a community leader. In other words, there are many ways in which to help address grief in a healthy way. The tasks of grief counseling are to help an individual express emotional loss, accept the loss, adjust to life after loss and cope with all these changes. [2: Anonymous. (2011). "Grief counseling: Definition." Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from .]
This therapy also helps with feelings such as sadness, anxiety, anger, loneliness, guilt, relief, isolation, confusion and numbness, all of which can be experienced after a loss. According to the mind disorder encyclopedia, behavioral changes such as being disorganized, feeling tired, inability to concentrate, sleeplessness, changes in appetite, vivid dreams and day dreaming, are also experienced by the person grieving. Such an overwhelming emotional and behavioral change needs some guidance, so it is recommended that grief counseling be considered by those affected by these emotions. [3: Anonymous. (2011). "Grief counseling: Definition." Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from . ]
Grief counseling is thus a very useful therapeutic tool. It not only helps the individual work through the many feelings associated with the loss of a loved one, but also provides a medium for the individual to understand the normal grieving process and the normality of many of the experiences that he or she is experiencing. The counseling process, again, varies for everyone. Some individuals express deep physical and psychological pain, and many need help getting back to daily routine, while others only experience numbness.
If an individual feels overwhelmed by the loss, it is the psychologist's duty to find specific coping mechanisms to help that individual resume normal life in his or her daily routine. If a person's sleep is disrupted, for example, a counselor may include that individual's physician in the session to assist with increasing sleep. As with any counseling, the outcomes may be successful or unsuccessful. Those who have success can return to a normal life, while others continue to experience the prolonged grief with which they began. [4: Anonymous. (2011). "Grief counseling: Definition." Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders. Retrieved April 14, 2011, from . ]
As mentioned above, however, there are many support groups for those grieving. For example, the website griefnet.org, is an internet community of persons dealing with "grief, death, and major loss." This community claims to have over 50 e-mail support groups, and aims to provide grief support to both children and adults. The website is headed by a doctor who is a clinical psychologist and traumatologist located in Michigan, and is seen as a non-profit.
Another website aimed at helping people cope with grief is compassionatefriend.org, which focuses on grief support after the death of a child. The motto of this site is to transform the "pain of grief into the elixir of hope." The website and its 625 in 50 states exist to help those going through the grieving process after the loss of a child...
Grief Counseling Counseling For Loss & Life provides individual and family counseling services for people suffering from grief. For many years now, counseling for loss of loved ones has been using compiled information to help people who are grieving from the loss of loved ones, to give them the lost security, hope and peace. The information is gathered from many sources such as websites, letters that welcome people's input. The best
Grief Counseling Human beings need one another in order to make things seem right and sane. Helping others in their time of need not only can help alleviate the stress from the person needing help, but also the person giving the help can also benefit greatly from this exercise. It seems that the human condition is designed to help each other. The purpose of this paper is to describe the group counseling
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Grief and Loss: Adolescents This work intends to outline the theoretical explanations of grief, in particular Worden's tasks of grief. Further this work intends to explore the role of the nurse in the support and care of an individual who is grieving. In this instance of study the focus is a 15-year-old girl who will be called Elaine Brown. She has been tired for some time, losing weight and is constantly thirsty.
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