8 Session Group Therapy Plan.Presenting Issue: LossErike ApolinarJimmy DuranMartha Singh

IntroductionFor most of the 20th Century, bereavement was understood in quintessentially modern terms as a process of letting go of ones attachment to the deceased person, moving on with ones life, and gradually recovering recovering from the depression occasioned by the loss so as to permit a return to normal behavior. (Neimeyer, 2001 p. 2)

The IssueLoss could subsume a welter of human experiences, including bereavement, relationship dissolution, job loss, natural catastrophe, sexual assault, geographic displacement, physical illness, role definition, interpersonal violence, and political torture, to name just a few

Freuds Mourning TheoryThe testing of reality, having shown that the loved object no longer exists, requires forthwith that the libido shall be withdrawn from its attachment to the object. Against this demand a struggle of course arises- it may be universally observed that man never willingly abandons a libido-position, not even when a substitute is already beckoning to him

Freuds Mourning Theory (cont)The normal outcome is that deference for reality gains the day. Nevertheless its behest cannot be at once obeyed. The task is carried out bit by bit, under great expense of time and cathartic energy, while all the time the existence of the lost object is continued in the mind

Freuds Mourning Theory (cont)Each single one of the memories and hopes which bound the libido to the object is brought up and hyper-cathected,, and the detachment of the libido from it is accomplished When the work of mourning is complete the ego becomes free and uninhibited again

Freuds Mourning Theory (cont)It may be that the identification is the sole condition under which the Id can give up its objects. The bereaved person effects a temporary introjection of the loved person. Its main purpose is to preserve the persons relation with the lost object.

Complicated VS. UncomplicatedSymptomatic manifestation Universal phases or road mapParticular experienceEmphasis in emotions rather than meaning and actionPrivate VS. RelationalThe continuity of symbolic bonds: Loving in absence

EmphasisGreater awareness of the implications of major loss for the individuals sense of identity, often necessitating deep revisions in his/her self-definition

Increased appreciation of the possibility of life-enhancing post-traumatic growth as one integrates the lessons of loss

EmphasisA broadened focus not only on the experience of individual survivors but also on the patterns and processes by which loss is negotiated in families and wider social contextsMeaning reconstruction in response to loss as the central process in grievingThe tension between conserving and relinquishing a world of meanings undercut by the loss of a defining attachment

Beyond decathexisEmphasis on the need to detach form the lost object has obscured another aspect of the work of mourning, which is to repair the natural disruption to the inner self-other relationship caused by the actual loss This is the task called creating continuity

The resolutionGrief is resolved through the creation of a loving, growing relationship with (the dead) lost object that recognizes the new psychological and/or spiritual dimensions of the relationship. It serves the need to preserve attachment to the lost (person) object, and the importance of securing a sense of meaningful relationship, which transcends loss.

Group DesignThe person is not the problem, the problem is the problem

Narrative therapy approach

Help the client externalize and deconstruct the problem and to identify preferred outcomes as well about procedures for thickening the clients new story of her or his relationship to the problem

Narrative therapyBandler and GrinderConstructivist approachPostmodern

Greimas and RamosMinuchin and DeShazer

Group Design8 Session Formal Introductory DesignAdmission: Any adult who has suffered a loss that is affecting them negatively in the present.Sorting: Death of family member, chronic illness, relationship loss. 8 to 10 clients per groupObjective: Help initiate the process of creating continuity

Group DesignCo-facilitated

Sessions to be held once every two weeks for up to three hours

The group includes check in, formal activity, and discussion, with a self-assigned homework for the week

Session 1Getting to know each other

Introduction of groupGround rulesGroup layoutMembers introductionActivity: Past, Present, and Future SelfDiscussionAssigning first homework: The group journal

Session 2Starting to write my history

Check inDoubts and concerns from last week and/or homeworkActivity: Shattered beliefsDiscussionAssignment of weeks homework by each member

Session 3This is who I am?

Check inDoubts and concerns from last week and/or homeworkActivity: Two lettersDiscussionAssignment of weeks homework by each member

Session 4This is who I am?

Check inDoubts and concerns from last week and/or homeworkActivity: Negative and positive timelinesDiscussionAssignment of weeks homework by each member

Session 5The positive lessons of loss

Check inDoubts and concerns from last week and/or homeworkActivity: Before and AfterDiscussionAssignment of weeks homework by each member

Session 6Loving in absence

Check inDoubts and concerns from last week and/or homeworkActivity: The history with the happy endingDiscussionAssignment of weeks homework by each member

Session 7Loving in absence

Check inDoubts and concerns from last week and/or homeworkActivity: Their presenceDiscussionAssignment of weeks homework by each member

Session 8Loving in absence

Check inDoubts and concerns from last week and/or homeworkActivity: Sharing my historyDiscussionAssignment of continuing homework by each member

Session 9 and beyondLoving in absence

Check inFree form psychotherapeutic group

QuestionsQuestions, doubts, concerns????

Thank you for your attention

Please help us do our group activity Think about the way loss feels, and how it is present in your life and get ready to share your experience with the rest of the group

In the group I am safe to share and express my true feelings, it is with my fellow group members that I can write and rewrite my history constantly to better grasp the positive and beautiful things that have happened and happen constantly to me and others around me. I have my life to share and it is valuable, unique and full to the top. May we all listen and talk form the heartState your purpose

Thank you!!!!!!!