Lindemann (1944), Lazare (1979) and Worden (2005) have identified numerous symptoms and behaviours that indicate unresolved / complicated grief. While many of the symptoms identified can be considered ordinary during the more acute earlier phase of grief, they are considered major signs of unresolved / complicated grief if they remain for unusually prolonged periods of time. Also, the more symptom... »
Below are examples of some useful techniques in grief counselling that stem from a range of different theoretical frames. »
Sue and Tom lost their child Jill to leukaemia approximately one year ago. Tom suggested that Sue attend Professional Counselling because she still doesn’t seem to be able to cope with everyday living. For ease of writing the Professional Counsellor is abbreviated to C. »
In this post we explore psychological and social factors that may contribute to unresolved/complicated grief. Click here for a list of symptoms and behaviours of unresolved/complicated grief. »
With a number of people undergoing grief, it is important to understand signs of normal grief. Worden (2005) identified four categories that demonstrate normal grief. This includes feelings, cognitions, physical sensations and behaviours. It is also important to remember that these signs of grief will vary from individual to individual. »
Questioning is used for therapeutic assessment and to facilitate the client’s expression of emotion, which is a crucial part of the therapeutic process in complicated grief counselling. Examples of questions and their purposes are outlined below. »
Historically, researchers have argued that complicated grief is an expression of a major depressive disorder or an anxiety-based disorder that has been triggered by a specific loss.?More recently, researchers have concluded that grief symptoms only partially overlap with symptoms of depression and other DSM-IV-TR categories, such as anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder, and that although the... »
There can be many reasons for children to be experiencing grief and loss. These may include; the death of a parent, pet, friend or grandparent, family separation or divorce, change of their living environment and exposure to traumatic events. Children experience grief in their own unique way, while at the same time every child’s grief process will include: early grief, acute grief and subsid... »
Reactions to the news of sudden unemployment, whether through redundancy or dismissal, are as varied as the individuals affected. Emotional reactions can range from shock and disbelief to anger and resentment. Of course, there is no set template for how an individual will react to news of their job loss. »
Maggie is a 35 year old woman who came for counselling six months after the break up of her nine year marriage to Michael, the father of her two children, Josh aged 6 and Joseph aged 12 months. Currently both children are in Maggie's sole care. Maggie has been referred to counselling by her General Practitioner whom she has been seeing for a number of minor physical ailments and early signs of dep... »
Jim had come to counselling to seek help with dealing with the sale of his late mother's estate. He was experiencing a lot of anger with the issue and also with his brother, Frank, who was joint inheritor. Frank was facing bankruptcy and needed the proceeds of the sale of the family home to save his business. »
Tina presented to counselling due to her partner recommending it. Tina agreed with him that she had been feeling low in mood and distant from her partner over the last six months, and she agreed that it was time for her to try and do something about it. »
Together we have looked at your individual reactions and feelings after the death of your loved one. We have then explored ways of coping which range from relaxation techniques to journal writing and rituals. After that we have learnt how to assist those who are grieving including the different developmental ages of children. And lastly, we have identified abnormal grief reactions in order to iden... »
Sometimes, the normal mourning process can turn to complicated or abnormal grieving for a number of reasons. These can include the circumstances of the death, the person’s history of grieving experiences, and the personality of the bereaved and the availability of support. We discussed earlier the more common reactions experienced in grief, but in order to identify abnormal grief, we can cat... »
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