CHAPTER TWELVE: PERSONAL LOSS:
BEREAVEMENT AND GRIEF
Terms Critical to Understanding Loss
Bereavement (sorrow) Uncomplicated bereavement
Grief (mental anguish) Complicated grief/prolonged grief Traumatic grief Disenfranchised grief (a loss that one is unable to share)
Loss Primary loss (death) Secondary loss (resulting from the death) Ambiguous loss (physically or psychologically missing)
Mourning (social or cultural state or condition expressing grief)
Dynamics of Bereavement
Cultural DynamicsCulture3 patterns of response:
Death accepting Death defying (dreading/avoiding)
Death denying
Sociocultural Mores Spirituality and Religion
Conceptual Approaches to Bereavement
Stage/Phase ModelsKubler-Ross’s Stages (denial, anger, bargaining,
depression, and acceptance)
Assessment Tools
Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (TRIG)Current GriefPast Disruption
Grief Experience Inventory (GEI)Nine clinical scales
Hogan Grief Reaction Checklist (HGRC)Can discriminate variability in the grieving process as a
function of cause of death and time elapsed since death Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG)
Targets symptoms of grief that are distinct from bereavement-related depression and anxiety, and predicts long-term functional impairments
Types of Loss
Death of a SpouseOne of the most emotionally stressful and disruptive
events in life More widows than widowers
Loss Due to Caregiving
Death of a ChildPerhaps the ultimate loss for a person to endure
regardless of the age of the child
Types of Loss Cont.
Bereavement in Childhood (age related) Bereavement in Adolescence
Value of connectedness Bereavement in the Elderly
Present more somatic problems than psychological problems No indication that the intensity of grief varies significantly with age Grief among older people may be more prolonged than among
younger people Tend to be lonelier and to have far longer periods of loneliness than
younger people
Types of Loss Cont.
HIV/AIDS (anticipatory, complex, page 430) Job Loss Separation and Divorce Death of a Pet Complicated Grief
Traumatic grief
Being There for Grievers
Empathic Presence Gentle Conversation Providing Available Space Eliciting Trust
The Crisis Worker's Own Grief
Emotional investment in the client Bereavement overload Countertransference Emotional replenishment Facing one’s own mortality Sense of power Tendency to rescue