The Bereavement Process

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.

Client mentioned that she had a busy good week. She will be staying with her aunt this summer, and she will be able to save some money as she has found two jobs. Moreover, she mentioned that her aunt, who is a Therapist, would look after her and help her find a local Bereavement Counsellor, who can help her to cope with bereavement while studying and working two jobs. Client stated that since her father's death, her perception of time has slowed down. She also mentioned that she recently realised that her father was a secure base for her and that now she is trying to find new principles that can provide that secure base. Client stated that sometimes worries to have lost her positive personality and to never feel well again.

Death is a part of life and eventually everyone on this earth will experience it. Nurses play an important role in death. Mourning the death of a loved one is something that almost everyone will experience in this lifetime because it is a natural response to death. Bereavement, grief and mourning are all effected by one’s culture, religion, the relationship with the deceased, personality, and how the person died.

2014, pp.510). It is important to note, as Castle and Phillips (2003, pp.42) illustrates, that grief should not be seen as having solely elements of suffering and pain, however it can also be considered a reminder of an ongoing relationship to the deceased, which may include those qualities of comfort and connection toward those who have passed. In terms of grief, Lee et al. (2010, pp. 507) discusses that the most common grief response among Western grievers were bargaining, followed by acceptance, depression, anger, denial, and isolation. Furthermore, Neimeyer, Klass and Dennis (2014, pp.485) shows that in contrast to Western conceptions of bereavement which views grieving as seeking meaning through personal and familial transitions, other cultures, relate grief toward broader community and cultural spheres. Putting this into consideration, Balk (2006, pp.87) places emphasis on the diversity of our world and thus, there is also a great diversity of views, attitudes and behaviours regarding death and grief. Therefore, using examples of grief reactions and expressions within certain populations in Asia, will facilitate diverse and culturally understanding perspectives of grief which can be further

Losing a loved one can be very painful, emotional and overwhelming. The difficult part after losing a loved one is learning how to cope with the loss. In order for nurses to help individuals cope with a loss of a loved one it is important for them to understand the grief process. This paper will define and explain the bereavement role, disenfranchised grief, four tasks of mourning and how nurses can help bereaved individuals with these processes.

Losing a loved one can be a traumatic situation in anyone's life. The bereavement process can take a tremendous toll on a person. There are no gender, age, sex, color or religion specifics that dictate the length of grievance, it all depends on the individual. The loss of loved one brings grim magnitudes for the body and the emotional state of a person and can sometimes be so extreme that it can alter the health of a human being. Grief counseling eases the bereavement process by providing patients many methods that will assist in dealing with the pain throughout their life. In multiculturalism people deal with the loss of a loved one in many forms, what may seem barbaric for one culture is normal in another and what a counselor may suggest

visual flashback memories of the violence may dominate the person's mind. They may be taken up

How can anyone cope when experiencing bereavement overload? Coping with one loss at a time provides individuals with more time to heal before having to experience another loss. Ideally, we would only experience one loss at a time but this is often rarely the case. Bereavement overload is characterized by experiencing loss upon loss, which results in individuals decreased ability to cope (Kastenbaum 363). The grieving process is complicated when experiencing bereavement overload because it becomes incredibly difficult to deal thoroughly with each individual loss. Figuring out where to even begin coping is overwhelming and a loss of faith is often inevitable. Moreover, feeling overwhelmed can result in neglecting to attend to ones feelings.

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.

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

Planning an end of life is very daunting and complicated task for the client, family, and counselor (Wong, Hall, Justice, & Hernandez, 2015). Professionals need to take the time to find out what type of rituals does the clients partaken whether it’s religious or not. Grieving persons that believe in or has a relationship with a higher power or God or practices faith beliefs is known to have lesser levels of grief tension during bereavement Juntenen and Schwartz (2016). Counsels can include spirituality or belief in the end of life planning. An empirical therapeutic intervention called life review is a great tool for counselors to use in the end of life planning. This therapeutic review focuses on individuals association with spirituality (Wong, Hall, Justice, & Hernandez, 2015). If the counselor is not competent or comfortable discussing particular religions they can refer the client to a faith go-between or a Chaplin Juntenen and Schwartz (2016).

My interest in the issues of grief and loss is to learn as much as I can to help others as well as myself. I am not completely healed from my grandmothers loss, but I am getting there. I know many people who are not even close to acceptance. Their losses took a toll in their lives and can’t seem to find a way out. I want to be able to help them find a way out. My personal goals for this course is to fully comprehend loss and what it does to people. Everyone is different when it come to dealing with loss. I want to be knowledgeable to help those who are not.

A violent and untimely death provokes many reactions in the bereaved; a drastic solution to

Grief is defined as a type of emotional or mental suffering from a loss, sorrow, or regret (Dictionary.com, LLC, 2010). Grief affects people of all ages, races, and sexes around the world. Approximately, 36% of the world’s population does or has suffered from grief and only a mere 10% of these people will seek out help (Theravive, 2009). Once a person is suffering from grief it is important to receive treatment. All too often, people ignore grief resulting in deep depression, substance abuse, and other disorders (Theravive, 2009). Grief counseling is very common and can be very helpful to a person in need of assistance. Grief counseling provides the support, understanding, and

Worden, J. (2009). Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner. 4th ed. New York: