Family Name: Saleem Given Name(s): Muhammad Mubashir

Student ID:1079857 Course: GCHCS

Unit Code: GCIND802 Unit Name: Grief loss & Trauma across the
life

Tutor: Omid Rezaei Assessment Number/Title: Assessment 2

Semester/Trimester and Year: Word Count: 2062

GCHCS Term 3 -2024

Working with Grief and Loss

Introduction
Sorrowful bereavement and loss are natural processes, given the reality of life, and notable for
directly or indirectly affecting nearly every group of people in society. Grief can result from
death, a change of job, or any other life-altering event and always comes in several forms.
Knowledge of these nuances is important to healthcare and community workers who are helping
their clients at their most difficult stages.

Theoretical Framework
Grief and loss have been studied extensively, resulting in various theories that shed light on the
emotional and psychological processes involved:

Kubler-Ross' Stages of Grief: Kubler Ross (1969) came up with the following grief cycle:
denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Pioneered by this model, there is an
appreciation of the different feelings that people may go through in their grief. However, to
others, some individuals do not understand that grief is not like a straight line.

Worden’s Tasks of Mourning: William Worden (2008) suggested an integrative model of

mourning that focused on the completion of tasks in mourning. The four tasks include:

 Palliative grief: Acknowledging the truth about a loss

 Coping grief: Managing the emotions from full-on sorrow
 Miasmatic grief: Coming to terms with the new reality
 Adaptive grief: Accepting that there is still a bond with the deceased, but the realities of
grief change over time.

Dual Process Model of Grief: This paper will focus on Stroebe and Schut's (1999) Dual Process
Model, which portrays grief as a process that alternates between two types of stressors, including
loss-related stressors and restoration-related stressors. In cataloging stressors, loss-oriented
stressors relate to reacting to the fact of the loss, while restoration-oriented stressors involve
living with the reality of that loss.

Attachment Theory: Throughout the early part of a lifetime, John Bowlby (1980) stated that the
manner of losing and being lost elicits a certain reaction. A secure attachment effectively offers a
format for grieving in ways that healthy are, or in other words, the individual can mourn in a way
that is not overwhelming.

Continuing Bonds Theory: This theory flatly contradicts AG's "up until now" theory, claiming
that grieving does not necessarily entail "letting go." Rather, it explains that incorporating an
active connection with the lost one in terms of the way one may think about them, talk to them,
or even recall them is as healthy or even normal as grief.

Cultural Influences on Grief: It is imperative to culture and tradition how grieving takes place
in different cultures or societies. Some cultures approve of some features of showing grief, such
as wailing or dressing in black, etc. In some, people are expected to be emotionally neutral and
even indifferent to what is going on around them.

Legal and Ethical Issues

Professionals working with grieving individuals must be aware of several legal and ethical
considerations to ensure that their practice is both effective and compliant with relevant
guidelines:

Confidentiality and Duty of Care: The client's right to privacy is a standard of professional
conduct in practice. However, there are situations whereby this duty may be at variance with the
need to protect the interest of the client or the interests of others. If the client is in a group, and
the client acts and talks about killing himself or any other person.

Cultural Competency: A professional ethic in a counseling situation requires cultural

competence in dealing with grief counseling. For workers to be culturally sensitive, they have to
avoid projecting their cultural beliefs on clients but try to respect the grieving cultures and
beliefs of various cultures.

Handling Self-Harm and Risk: Grief can cause much anger in oneself or even lead to thoughts
of harming oneself or even killing oneself. Specialists should know when the patient is probably
at risk of taking their own life and complete evaluations to identify a proper reaction. Often, it
may mean developing an individual safety plan, including other family members or potentially
supportive persons, as well as collaborating with other providers.
Informed Consent: Clients must be informed about the counseling process and the various risks
and benefits of embracing some therapeutic techniques. This means that the clients can make an
independent decision about their treatment.

Professional Boundaries and Self-Disclosure: Strong professional boundaries need to be

adhered to when working with grieving clients to avoid issues and blurred boundaries. This is
why professionals can use self-disclosure therapeutically from time to time, but always with the
client's best interest in mind.

Framework for Working with Grief and Loss

Assessment:
This paper describes grief as the first step in assessing the client's grief experience. This also
involves distinguishing between the level of grief and its characteristics, the support that the
client has, and risk factors for complicated grief that might include trauma history, among others,
or mental illness.

Intervention Strategies:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) enables clients to change negative perceptions about
grieving and develop more appropriate ways of thinking. However, some strategies are more
helpful for clients than others, like cognitive restructuring, which might help clients challenge
irrational beliefs and replace them with healthier and more adaptive patterns of thinking
(Mancini & Bonanno, 2006).

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): ACT advocates for clients to embrace their
grief-related feelings instead of trying to avoid or eliminate them. This approach enables clients
to accept that they should live a meaningful life even though they have pain (Hayes et al., 2006).

Narrative Therapy: Narrative therapy enables clients to share with the therapist and others the
grief narratives they have been experiencing and can experience. It enables people to make sense
of the loss and reconstruct their life stories. It is especially helpful for clients who have not found
a rational way to grasp their loss (Neimeyer, 2019).
Group Therapy: Patients' grief experiences are relevant and shared in group therapy to allow
for mutual support of the members. According to Yalom and Leszcz (2005), the group process
also has certain advantages in grieving, such as helping normalize grieving and mutual aid.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions: Techniques like grounding and breathing exercises can help
clients with the physical and psychological aspects of bereavement. Mindfulness helps clients
embrace pain in their lives by making them focus on it without judging the process.

Culturally Sensitive Approaches

It is most effective for practitioners to incorporate culturally informed practices in an attempt to
help grieving clients. For instance, people of Asian Countries depict that paying respect to their
dead relatives through dances and other ceremonies was compulsory during the mourning
process. The Indigenous people advocate for storytelling and congregation for healing to occur.
Therapists should be free to consider all these techniques in the treatment process.

Culture & Ethnicity & Health

Cultural competence is not only the moral responsibility of the professional but also a necessity
for grief work. Understanding and respecting cultural differences in mourning practices can
significantly impact the therapeutic relationship and the client’s healing process:

Cultural Awareness: One important thing for professionals is to learn how every client is
different and what cultural expectations are regarding grief. In some cultures, it is acceptable to
cry loudly, wail, and make much fuss over the death of a loved one or perform certain mourning
rites, while in other cultures, people are expected to cry silently or not cry at all.

Tailored Interventions: The treatment plans should be modified to fit the client's cultural
perspectives so that he or she can accept them. For instance, if a culture supports or encourages
group grieving, then family-centered therapies may be superior to a single therapy session. In the
same cultural beliefs, where death is considered a real spiritual journey, it is good to embrace the
spirit in therapy to offer support to such clients.
Examples of Cultural Sensitivity:
Indigenous Practices: Several Indigenous people hold specific traditions in mourning the
departed, like smudging or even rallying for a drumming event. Ideally, any counselor interested
in multiculturalism would Honor such features and incorporate them into the therapies.

Religious Rituals: In religious terms, people pray, read religious books, or perform special
'Integrated time ‘ceremonies after a loss. Knowledge and acceptance of such practices contribute
to making grieving clients feel valued in their grieving process.

Impact of Grief on Different Client Groups

Children: The knowledge children have about death changes with age. Since young children
lack understanding of death, they may display the loss through their behavior, revert to a younger
stage of development, or act out death in play. Children can be helped to understand their
feelings through play therapy, art therapy, and well-chosen words that are appropriate to the
child’s cognitive level. Creativity can play a great role in helping the kids feel safe in order to
proceed with their healing.

Adolescents: Children and young people are in a special developmental period; they have an
identity crisis, self-assertion, and conflicts with peers. Moreover, these complications can be
worsened by the loss of a loved one, making one feel lonely, angry, or confused. Intervention
procedures with adolescents should entail grieving peer support, grief support groups, and
individual counseling based on the participants' needs.

Adults: This is compounded by the fact that adults ordinarily have various responsibilities like
family or careers, which hinder them from mourning in the right manner. Grief counseling
services for adults should involve both helping with the emotions involved in grieving and
coping with the responsibilities of daily living. This is effective because the basic methods
include stress management, time management, and relaxation exercises.

Older Adults: For the elderly, the loss can manifest in a number of combined factors, such as
the death of friends and colleagues, deteriorating physical health, and loss of mobility. Multiple
losses may lead to grief and promote the potential for depression and social isolation.
Socialization, physical well-being, and purposeful activities are essential areas that require major
focus in older adults.
Cultural Contexts: Culture puts extra dimensions to mourning and changing the way people
grieve and mourn. According to some cultures, when a person dies, it does not mean that he or
she has ceased to exist, and therefore, certain processes are performed to make sure that the
person has transitioned to the next world well. In others, the emphasis and goal of mourning is to
pay tribute to the life of the deceased individual. Therapists need to be aware of these differences
and work these into therapy, trying to find a reconciled form of therapy that will suit the cultural
differences.

Self-Care and Professional Development

Client loss is strenuous not only for grieving clients but also for professionals, and thus, the
professional needs to practice good health. This is a high-risk job for burnout and compassion
fatigue, and failure to take care of oneself has a detrimental effect on the quality of service
delivered to clients.

Regular Supervision and Peer Support: Supervision offers case reviews that highlight difficult
situations, consultation, and chances to work through emotions. Support groups are also helpful
because friends can give practical advice and top tips based on their observations of others.

Mindfulness and Stress Management: Stress-busting relaxation techniques such as meditation,

yoga, deep breathing, or taking a mindful walk can help professionals do this. These practices
improve the individual's self-identity-centeredness and stability while being significant for
overall well-being.

Continuous Learning and Professional Development: They continue to attend workshops,

conferences, and training sessions to read more about the latest research or trends in grief
counseling. Continuing professional development means that those employees remain relevant
and have full confidence in their abilities.

Setting Boundaries: There must be a positive correlation in the workplace between work and
other aspects of life. This may include creating barriers regarding time of work, time for a break,
and other activities that the person might do, which can help him or her to relax.
Conclusion
Enduring grief and loss from the theoretical and practical perspectives helps professionals be
both caring and efficacious. Legal and ethical consideration, cultural sensitivity, and
practitioners' self-care are some of the ways through which practitioners can positively affect the
lives of the griever and the dependent. The process of grieving is unique; healing is slow, and
therefore, professionals must affirm, accept, and be willing to learn from their clients.

References
American Counseling Association. (2014). ACA Code of Ethics. Retrieved from
https://www.counseling.org/resources/aca-code-of-ethics.pdf

Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and Loss: Vol. 3. Loss: Sadness and Depression. New York:
Basic Books.

Gamino, L. A., & Ritter, R. H. (2009). Ethical Practice in Grief Counseling. Springer.

Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy:
An Experiential Approach to Behavior Change. Guilford Press.

Kubler-Ross, E. (1969). On Death and Dying. New York: Macmillan.

Mancini, A. D., & Bonanno, G. A. (2006). Resilience in the face of potential trauma: Clinical
practices and illustrations. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62(8), 971–986.

Neimeyer, R. A. (2019). Techniques of Grief Therapy: Assessment and Intervention. Routledge.

Noppe, L. D., & Noppe, I. C. (2004). Adolescent experiences with death: Letting go of
immortality. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19(3), 263–283.

Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (1999). The dual process model of coping with bereavement: Rationale
and description. Death Studies, 23(3), 197–224.

Yalom, I. D., & Leszcz, M. (2005). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. Basic
Books.