Marilyn Grief

Grief is a natural response to a major loss, though often deeply painful and can have a negative impact on your life. Any loss can cause varied levels of grief often when someone least expects it however, loss is widely varied and is often only perceived as death. Tugendhat (2005) argued that losses such as infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, adoption and divorce can cause grief in everyday life. Throughout our lives we all face loss in one way or another, whether it is being diagnosed with a terminal illness, loss of independence due to a serious accident or illness, gaining a criminal record (identity loss), losing our job, home or ending a relationship; we all experience loss

The Two-Track Model of Bereavement is a model that states loss is conceptualized along two axes. Track I pertains to the biopsychosocial functioning in the event of a loss and Track II pertains to the bereaved’s continued emotional attachment and relationship to whoever is deceased. The effect of Track I is seen through the bereaved’s functioning, including their anxiety, their self-esteem and self-worth, and their depressive affect and cognitions. Noting the ability of one to invest in life tasks after experiencing a loss indicates how they are responding to the loss of the deceased. This Track is seen as an expression similar to one of trauma, or crisis. Track II holds that the bereaved has difficulty physically separating from the deceased. This can be seen in emotional, interpersonal, or cognitive ways. It is shown through imagery and memories that the bereaved experiences surrounding the deceased, whether positive or negative, as well as the emotional distance from them. These pictures in the bereaved’s head explain both the cognitive and emotional view of the person who has died (Rubin, 1999).

Loss is a phenomenon that is experienced by all. Death is experienced by family members as a unique and elevated form of loss which is modulated by potent stages of grief. Inevitably, everyone will lose someone with whom they had a personal relationship and emotional connection and thus experience an aftermath that can generally be described as grief. Although bereavement, which is defined as a state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one, is a universal experience it varies widely across gender, age, and circumstance (definitions.net, 2015). Indeed the formalities and phases associated with bereavement have been recounted and theorized in literature for years. These philosophies are quite diverse but

Research Report: Review of the Literature on Anticipated vs. Unanticipated Grief and their Corresponding Coping Skills

Grief is often accompanied by feelings of anger, intense sadness, difficulty in engaging in happy memories, and obsession with the departed or with the situations surrounding the death of a loved one (Minuchin & Fishman, 2009). This is shown in the video “A Family Disrupted: Dealing with the Death of a Sibling”, when Lois cries uncontrollably and acts completely shocked and disconnected. The video also shows the effects of grief with Jerry, who feels angry and isolated, and often wishes to be alone. When an individual is grieving and cannot overcome the grief, it is important to seek a qualified therapist for help. Therapists will effectively tailor various therapeutic models to address the special needs of individuals or family members who are struggling with grief (Worden, 2010). To help the people who are grieving in this video, models like solution focused therapy are used.

Case Study 2 Derrick Wright Liberty University Case Study 2 What makes up Marilyn’s Grief History? Grief refers to an acceptable reaction of an individual when something or a loved one is taken away from the individual. It is the emotive pain that an individual feels when a loved one or something is taken away (Webb, 2011). The weightier the loss, the more excruciating the pain becomes. There is no right way to cope with the loss of a loved one.

As important as it is for Gary to experience and work through the emotions associated with Chris’s death, I do not believe that this alone will be enough to help him work through his grief. Matthews and Marwit (2004) suggest that complicated grief is a pattern of non-normative behavior triggered by the loss of a loved one. The authors argue that complicated grief may resemble depression while often also including symptoms relating to separation distress and traumatic distress, illustrated by Gary’s feelings of loneliness and rumination over his relationship with Chris in addition to his anger, guilt, and social isolation. This article describes how, traditionally, it was thought that a bereaved person needed to go through “grief work” by confronting and processing emotions associated with the loss of a loved one. However, this confrontation of emotion may not be enough and recovery may also require addressing the cognitions of the bereaved person. In addition, the authors of this study suggest a dual-process model in which the bereaved person oscillates between confronting various types of stressors, then taking a break from those stressors. By utilizing EFT, Gary will essentially be doing grief work by experiencing the emotions associated with loss. Experiencing his feeling of guilt may trigger cognitions such

Research studies are vital for understanding how to make practice and policies the best they can be for service users. Social work is a diverse and complex field, and research studies in this area not only allows social work professionals to expand their personal knowledge within their practice, but it can also benefit their clients and even society from a policy or legislative level. In discussing the vital importance of such research I will be looking at the work of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross (1969), whereby she forms a model of stages of grief. Before the 1970s, psychologists treated death as taboo. However Kubler-Ross’ book, ‘On Death and Dying’ outlined the need for understanding human loss, signalling a new era of open discussion on the topic.

(1988).suggests understanding attachment between grief and loss is important because of the acknowledgement that all people form an attachment with being with the attachment of one mother. Benson, Marshall 2009) Argued that when someone loses a loved one people tend keep them in their memories through, stories, dreams, images, and even music or pictures. This will allow the individual to feel that their relationship still continues between them. In this case the client informed me that she carried a picture of her mother wherever she goes, specifying when she visits her country she can feel her presence reference no

Shear et al. (2007) focused their studies on an attachment-based model of complicated grief with an emphasis on the contribution of avoidance. The attachment-based model assumes the loss of an attachment figure causes an interruption in an individual’s attachment working model. Shear et al. (2007) references Bowlby’s theory of attachment, which stated at a young age a baby develops an attachment bond to their caregiver or loved one. Shear et al. (2007) reported Bowlby theorized, as a child ages the attachment relationship is translated into an internalized working model. This working model provides a secure base, which allows an individual to utilize his/her exploratory system to discover new experiences and attain certain goals (Shear et al., 2007). Shear et al. (2007) postulated the loss of a loved one disrupts this attachment working model which can lead to

As a practitioner, the role in this situation is to minimize disruptive events, protect each child’s experience of attachment from harm and support family coping. For this, creating goals for dealing with grief and moving forward is important. Children and adolescents do not tend to grieve in isolation. They grieve within the social context of their family, friends, cultural setting and community (Di Ciacco 2008). Narchaul (2008) refers to Bowlby’s (1969) theory of attachment as providing a framework for us to understand the connectedness to others and how we relate to others. Personal behavioural and coping strategies can be sourced back to childhood upbringing and influences, with issues such as trust, resilience and the ability to regulate emotions essential in playing a role in recovery (Turunen, 2014). Weenolsen (1991, p. 60) states that each disaster or trauma provides a scenario in which the recovery of human beings relies heavily on their ability to transcend their loss of attachment and move on, to psychologically rebirth their attachments. The development theory is another one where the practitioner would identify the conditions impacting as an individual. This path gives direction to upcoming plans and interventions. As the children are at different stages this theory base is appropriate. For example both children would be engaged with creative/physical outlets, observed during family interactions and noted for behavioural traits (Di Ciacco 2008).

Upon further examination, one must consider each stage is a process with identifiable characteristics that are critical to the coping and grieving process it is both cultural and traditions to respect the deceased and support those who remain. Make no mistake this is a traumatic event and I surprise that more counselors do not seek to explore this part of counseling as a career path. Kanal (2011) sets forth that death also has different levels of impact on the family (p. 151). For example, losing a parent after the person lived, a full life is hard; it appears even more difficult than the loss of a child. The author suggests in many instances, this area is where the counseling professional can do the most good.

But death becomes a source of grief especially when it comes unexpectedly.like in murders and accidents. Most of the time death of a loved one due to either of the two is almost unbearable, too painful and unacceptable. Sometimes, in their extreme grief, they would be questioning God for taking the life of the loved one. But almost all deaths results to loss and grief for those left behind. Grief is a normal emotional reaction to deaths of loved ones. It is often described by those that have gone through it as a heaviness that isn’t easily lifted. It can sometimes be so pronounced that it affects a person’s physical self and can even mimic illnesses (Morrow,2009).

Effective trauma counselling requires consideration of various aspects. Kubler- Ross, (2010) introduced the five stages of grief, (denial, anger, bargaining, depression & acceptance), which are experienced during the grieving process. These combined with Worden’s (2004), four tasks of grief requires the client to complete each one in order for the grief cycle to be completed, neither of these are linear or time limited, although Worden (2004) believes the tasks take a natural order of progression and may require revisiting. These four stages include accepting the loss, working through the pain, adjusting to the environment and finding a connection with the lost whilst moving forward.

Families are bound to encounter stressful challenges, and it is important for them to be equipped with the knowledge of handling a crisis. Life itself is dynamic and unpredictable. Although the family can plan to avoid some stressful circumstances, others often emerge from nowhere, unexpectedly. Consequently, the family may find itself grieving because of a number of unforeseen circumstances. Grief denotes a natural response to a loss. There are different loses that can trigger grief in the family. Examples include death, loss of a job, loss of health, financial difficulties, miscarriage, loss of a cherished dream or a serious, and life threaten illness among others. Managing grief after the loss of a significant member of the family has