Bereavement in Teens Essay

After interviewing the social workers Hope and Hodge (2006) found that they had observed similar patterns regarding the factors that affect the adjustment of children who lost a parent to death. Boys tend to show externalizing behaviors whereas girls tend to show internalizing behaviors due to the lost of a parent. They found that the cognitive level rather than the age of the child affects their adjustment more. Therefore younger children and preadolescents seem to have more difficulty adjusting to the death of a parent than adolescents. The results did not support earlier findings that sudden death present more difficulty adjusting than expected death. Most of the participants reported that sudden and expected death is equally traumatic to children. The participants also said that the adjustment of the caretaker is important for a positive adjustment for the children. The caretaker must be able to grieve while supporting the child’s need to grieve. This study shows that children of different ages and genders react different to the death of a parent.

Someone who is grieving will experience “major psychological, spiritual, social and physiological” changes throughout the grieving process (Hooyman & Kramer, 2006, p37). There are many theories and models that support these words. This essay will discuss Freud’s theory of grief work (Davies, 2004), Bowlby’s attachment theory (Walsh, 2012), and Worden’s tasks of grief (Worden & Winokuer, 2011). The major tasks of grief throughout the four different stages of life will be looked at, as well as common grief reactions, and ways to support people through these. In addition how children, adolescents, adults and the elderly understand and respond to grief will be examined. Finally how people at the various stages of life confront their own death will be looked at, including some personal examples.

D1/D2/A1 For most people bereavement will be the most troubling experience they will ever face. Grief is what we feel when somebody that is close to us has died everyone experiences grief in different way there is no correct way for someone to grief. For many children and young people the death of a parent or sibling is an experience they are faced with early in life. Children and young people need to be given the opportunity to grieve ignoring the child’s grief is not protective and can be damaging. Children and young people regardless of their age need to be encouraged to talk about how they are feeling and supported to understand their emotions. During their development children do not understand that death in irreversible this can be shown as children do not understand the term death

This course has taught me that it is difficult to say goodbye to the ones we love. The struggle to separate from the deceased occurs because we have a strong attachment with them. The grief response and expression for every individual is unique (Winokuer & Harris, 2012, p. 26). Thus, I cannot expect my clients to grieve in a similar manner. It is also important for a counsellor to identify what stage in the grief process the client is in. Although, there are many models of grief stages, they all follow similar midpoints. These midpoints are accepting the loss, dealing with the emotions surrounding the loss, creating a reason for the loss, finding a way to continue to live without the loved one, and creating an everlasting bond with the deceased.

With a different perspective, analyzing the author’s grief will be easier. There are five stages of grief, according to Kubler-Ross’s model (Kübler-Ross, 1972). It begins with stage of denial. This can be seen in the author’s writing, that the author cannot accept the fact that his healthy, young child has died (Kübler-Ross, 1972). The next stage to follow is Anger which is seen in the fact that the author believes no parent should bury their child. The third stage is bargaining (Kübler-Ross, 1972). The author tries to reason through his thoughts with God in the hopes of having his son back even though there is no possible way that can happen. The fourth is depression which is seen in the darkness

In this essay I will outline the main theoretical models relating to loss and grief.

Hayslip, Pruett, and Caballero (2015) construe the grief responses of young adults who have lost parents, and suggest that young adults were burdened more so than middle-aged adults. The authors propose that many young adults lack the support system that is so fundamental in coping with loss, making their grieving process more problematic. Instinctive coping responses in young adults when grieving, specifically the loss of a parent, include anger, insomnia, losing interest in endeavours, and trouble working with others. A study within this article found young adults feel more animosity towards the deceased, and more shock.

Dr. Earl Grollman, a certified death educator and counselor, said (2014), “Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical, and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve.” Grief is not age discriminate. It impacts individuals of all ages from the very young to the very old. Everyone experiences and copes with grief in different ways. Research indicates that mourning is particularly complicated for children due to emotional and cognitive development (Samide & Stockton, 2002). Grief counseling small groups facilitated by school counselors in elementary and secondary schools can provide much needed support and inclusion to students facing loss. Grief groups can

This question has been posed by many philosophers, religious leaders and psychologists for centuries, yet has been a potent taboo in society even today. As the field of psychology is gaining ground and knowledge in how behaviors affect the way in which we interact with others, we are discovering new ways to approach and view the mental processes of a human and apply them to how a person grieves that loss. But while oft times those assumptions, hypothesis, and theories are made by adults for adults, the child is a more difficult subject in which to study since it has not achieved its mature mental

J. William Worden’s adaptation of early grief theories focussed on the role of therapists and counsellors in caring for grieving individuals. He described the grieving process in terms of four tasks to complete rather than four phases to progress through. The first task he labeled “Accepting the Reality of the Loss” in which the individual attempts to accept their loss both intellectually and emotionally. The second task, “Working Through the Pain of Grief” involves working through the intense emotions often associated with grief, such as anger, sadness, and guilt. The third task, “Adjusting to an Environment in Which the Deceased is Missing,” comprises a series of adjustments, which Worden defines as external, internal, and spiritual adjustments.

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).

The first stage being pre-protest is when the adolescent has a lack of emotion about the loss. The next stage is protest, and this is when the adolescent rejects either the new environment or individual who is substituting for the lost individual. In stage three despair, withdrawal and sadness are exhibited in the adolescent. And the fourth stage is detachment, this is when the adolescent separates themselves from the loss and adapt to the change (Williams & Lent, 2008). Grieving children and individuals need our attention, support and resources in naming and overcoming their sadness (Hart,

Grief will eventually affect everyone. It is a part of life that people like to avoid, but are never able to. Grief occurs when a person looses a loved one, an animal, if they are diagnosed with a terminal illness, going through a break up, or anything that makes a person feel a deep sorrow. In Chapter 13 of Medical Law and Ethics (pg. 337), The Five Stages of Dying or Grief is discussed. In this Chapter, it breaks down the Five Stages of Grief a patient, caregiver, friend, or family member may go through.

It is believed that children do not experience grief until one has been through adolescents and can distinguish thoughts and feeling from emotions. According to Glass (1991), a child can grasp the notion of death during early childhood; and can begin to grief as early as six months (Willis, 2002). Willis (2002) believes from a moderate perspective that children begin to understand death and grieve approximately at three to four years old. Many times, small children are affected by loss and their grief is often underestimated. Children between the ages of three to five years old fall into stage one. During stage one; children view death as a going away from one place to another. It is believed that the deceased person has just relocated and is living in a new location. Stage two consists of children between the ages of five to nine years of old. In this phase, death can be fixed. It is thought that if one

This recommendation for therapeutic intervention is based on a study done by Balk in 1995. Balk, who only focused on college student grief, showed that connections to the person who died, directly influences ongoing symptoms of grief. Also, in 1995, Streobe and Schut developed a theory that suggested that recovering from grief involves the ability to go between the processes of confronting loss and redefining one’s life. Many experiences distress rather than challenge, which can lead students to feel fearful and helpless. Academic work may reflect some of the elevated levels of stress that is generated from grief. Most college students experience grade pressures that cause students to have problems with stress. Grief can interfere with a student’s concentration and performance, which then creates unnecessary stress.