The Dual Process Model

This is a concept that Rosbrow brings forward in his study of grief, particularly the way that it causes a “specific dynamic within family relations which determines how a person is able to grieve”,

Grieving is a process the human mind goes through to stay healthy through a large loss. According to the American Psychology Association “Coping with the loss of a close friend or family member may be one of the hardest challenges that many of us face. When we lose a spouse, sibling or parent our grief can be particularly intense. Loss is understood as a natural part of life, but we can still be overcome by shock and confusion, leading to prolonged periods of sadness or depression. The sadness typically diminishes in intensity as time passes, but grieving is an important process in order to overcome these feelings and continue to embrace the time you had with your loved one.” The argument could even be made that grief is part of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs (See Below), which is a pyramid shaped diagram used to explain the basic needs of humanity. In a brief explanation Simple Psychology puts is simply, “Maslow wanted to understand what motivates people. He believed that people possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires. Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfill the next one, and so on… This five stage model can be divided into basic (or deficiency) needs (e.g. physiological, safety,

Later, Prigerson et al. (1999) researched disordered grief and found a number of differences as related to anxiety and depression. Both Horowitz and Prigerson’s studies found similarities in that participants had prolonged longing for the deceased, extreme impairing thoughts about the deceased, extreme denial of the death and avoidance ( Boelen & Prigerson, 2007).

Death is a universally experienced phenomenon. In the United States alone, over 2.6 million people die each year (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). For practitioners, it is of utmost importance to better understand the process of grief to develop better interventions for bereaved individuals.

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).

anger, illness, panic, guilt, depression and loneliness, reentry difficulties, hope, affirming reality. In addition, when comparing these two models the model that best fits the grieving process from the loss of my husband is the Weisberg Model of the grieving process. (Castro, 2015, p.479-482) When my husband died, I realized he died because I was there, however, my mind was in shock and denial and I know that I was in shock because I was feeling numb. The whole time he was I sick I had to hold it together for everyone else and when he died the bottom fell out because I could not handle or cope with the loss. The second step of this process is emotions erupting, however, this took a long time before this finally happened and my emotions led to drinking to cope.

A common struggle for many folks identify is trying to figure out how grieving is operationalized and whether they are doing it "right". "Doing it right" usually has two meanings for the person struggling with a loss. The first has to do with reaction - many folks spend a good deal of time trying to figure out whether how they are feeling in relation to the loss is normal. The second has to do with process - a desire for a blue print on how to go about grieving.

In the first stage that I will discuss is denial. In this stage people may deny the reality of the situation by blocking out the words and hiding from the facts ("5 Stages of Loss & Grief | Psych Central," n.d.-a). For instance, someone could be diagnosed with some form of cancer. That person may not want to know because it might overwhelm them. So they would not want to know the reality of

Complicated Grief: A Sociological and Psychological Experience Define Complicated grief is defined as traumatic distress caused by the separation, due to the death, of a loved one that lasts longer than six months. Complicated Grief is specific to bereavement. Complicated Grief is often associated with loss surrounding a violent death such as suicide, violence, and accidental death (van Denderen et al.,2014). Complicated Grief may present itself through the symptoms of intense longing for the lost loved one, being overwhelming engrossed with thoughts of the lost loved one, and intrusive memories (Bui et al, 2013). Epidemiological Importance

Grief is the act following the loss of a loved one. While grief and bereavement are normal occurrences, the grief process is a social construct of how someone should behave. The acceptable ways that people grieve change because of this construct. For a time it was not acceptable to grieve; today, however, it is seen as a necessary way to move on from death (Scheid, 2011).The grief process has been described as a multistage event, with each stage lasting for a suggested amount of time to be considered “normal” and reach resolution. The beginning stage of grief is the immediate shock, disbelief, and denial lasting from hours to weeks (Wambach, 1985). The middle stage is the acute mourning phase that can include somatic and emotional turmoil. This stage includes acknowledging the event and processing it on various levels, both mentally and physically. The final stage is a period of

The loss of a loved one is one of the most difficult experiences to endure in a human lifetime. The grieving process often encompasses the survivors’ entire world and affects their emotional, cognitive, spiritual, and physical selves in unexpected ways. After a major loss, such as the death of a spouse or child, up to a third of the people most directly affected will suffer detrimental effects on their physical and/or mental health (Jacobs 1993).

There is this constant dissonance between the healing power of grieving, but also the point at which it becomes harmful and needs to be controlled (Shepard, 2002, p. 205). This is seen in Western culture, where we make determinations about how long a person should feel sad for or when a normal grieving process becomes abnormal or unhealthy (Lutz, 1986, p. 294), but also in other cultures, like the Toraja, who encourage overt outpouring of emotion for a short time, but then consider that continuing this for too long will inhibit a person’s ability to protect themselves from poor health (Wellenkamp, 1988, p.

This essay explores several models and theories that discuss the complexities of loss and grief. A discussion of the tasks, reactions and understanding of grief through the different stages from infants to the elderly, will also be attempted.

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

The life transition of death and dying is inevitably one with which we will all be faced; we will all experience the death of people we hold close throughout our lifetime. This paper will explore the different processes of grief including the bereavement, mourning, and sorrow individuals go through after losing someone to death. Bereavement is a period of adaptation following a life changing loss. This period encompasses mourning, which includes behaviors and rituals following a death, and the wide range of emotions that go with it. Sorrow is the state of ongoing sadness not overcome in the grieving process; though not pathological, persistent