Summary: <p>Grief<br> Presented by: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes<br> Executive Director, AllCEUs</p> <p>A Counseling CEU course for this presentation can be purchased at: <a href="https://www.allceus.com/member/cart/index/product/id/582/c/">https://www.allceus.com/member/cart/index/product/id/582/c/</a></p> <p>Objectives<br> ~ Define grief<br> ~ Conceptualize grief in terms of any loss<br> ~ Identify how failure to deal with grief can impact a person<br> ~ Explore the stages of grief</p> <p>What is Grief<br> ~ Grief is a label assigned to all of the emotions associated with dealing with any kind of loss<br> ~ Physical (Things, abilities, freedoms)<br> ~ Self-concept (Roles, values, labels)<br> ~ Worldview (Innocence, safety)<br> ~ Dreams (How things should be)<br> ~ Social (Loss of relationships…)<br> Stages of Grief<br> ~ Denial: Numbness, dream, alternate explanations)<br> ~ Anger: The unknown, loss of control, death, isolation, failure—(shouldas and couldas)<br> ~ Bargaining: If I … then I will wake up and realize this was only a really bad dream<br> ~ Depression: Helpless, hopeless<br> ~ Acceptance: Radical acceptance that the loss occurred and determining how to proceed from there<br> Exacerbating & Mitigating factors<br> ~ How people react in a crisis depends upon 6 factors<br> ~ How close the situation was to them (physical and emotional proximity)<br> ~ How many other stressors them experienced in the last year<br> ~ Mental health issues/Effective coping skills<br> ~ Social supports<br> ~ Understanding of the loss<br> ~ How much control/responsibility they feel like they had in the situation</p> <p>Impact of Unresolved Grief<br> ~ Most people get stuck in either anger or depression<br> ~ Anger (shoulda, couldas and if onlys)<br> ~ At self<br> ~ At others<br> ~ At higher power<br> ~ Depression (Hopelessness, Helplessness—I don’t now how to go on)<br> ~ At self<br> ~ At others<br> ~ At higher power<br> Denial<br> ~ Denial is the mind’s way of protecting people from what lies ahead.<br> ~ Action strategies<br> ~ Facing the loss<br> Anger<br> ~ Anger is the power play<br> ~ Push people away to avoid getting hurt again<br> ~ Blame others as an outlet for helplessness—somebody somewhere could have prevented this<br> ~ Blame self to try to regain some control/prevent it from happening again, make themselves suffer<br> ~ Question belief system and world schema</p> <p>Anger<br> ~ Action steps<br> ~ Identifying what the loss means to the person (Ex. Job, Parent, Victimization)<br> ~ Angry (other losses)<br> ~ Scared (which fears and why?)<br> ~ Depressed (I feel helpless to… ; I feel hopeless to…)<br> ~ Validation<br> ~ Examination of the stated beliefs for<br> ~ All or nothing thinking<br> ~ Emotional reasoning<br> ~ Fallacy of fairness<br> ~ Emotional Reasoning</p> <p>Bargaining<br> ~ If I do x, y and z, maybe I can wake up and it will have been a nightmare<br> ~ Contributes to depression because the person wakes up everyday hoping the reality is different<br> ~ Hope is squelched every morning<br> ~ Action Steps<br> ~ Help clients stay in the present reality<br> ~ Point out how bargaining just creates more exhaustion and frustration<br> Depression<br> ~ Hopelessness and helplessness<br> ~ Reality that the loss occurred AND it cannot be changed<br> ~ Action Steps<br> ~ Identify what cannot be changed<br> ~ Identify what can be changed henceforth<br> ~ Parent<br> ~ Job<br> ~ Victimization</p> <p>Acceptance<br> ~ Accepting the reality of the loss<br> ~ Action steps<br> ~ Explore how life will be different (and the same) since the loss<br> ~ Make a plan to change the things you can<br> </p>
