stages of grief
DESCRIPTION
According to Dr Kübler-Ross, there are five well-defined stages in the grief process, all of which are important parts of the way that we react to the inevitable loss that life brings. If we are unable to express grief during any stage of the process, the grief can become blocked or bottled up, and will need to be released later.TRANSCRIPT
In this world, grief and loss are
inevitable. This is an unfortunate truth
and is part of being only human and a
mere mortal.
It doesn’t matter how positive an
outlook you have on life – bad things
will happen to good people, and when
these things happen, we need to let
ourselves go through the grief process.
It often helps to know that there is a
known process involved in coping with
loss and grief. You know that you’re not
alone and that you are normal.
If you block yourself off and don’t let
yourself walk the journey, this can
cause problems further down the track
– we deal with a number of people
using hypnotherapy who have bottled
up grief from an old loss and have
never fully released it.
Of course, the grief process had been
informally explored by writers
throughout history, who had turned
their feelings into art.
Some of the more striking examples of
these works are “In Memoriam” by
Tennyson (written after a close friend
was drowned in a shipwreck) and “A
Grief Observed” by CS Lewis (of Narnia
fame), which was written after the
death of his wife from cancer.
Dr Kübler-Ross looked at the process
of grief in the context of death and
dying. In fact, the book in which she
outlined the process was called “On
Death and Dying.”
She was mostly interested in people
who were suffering from terminal
illnesses as well as their family
members.
divorce, redundancy, losing a home
through fire or some other natural
disaster, being diagnosed with a long-
term medical condition that won’t go
away, and even some seemingly happy
and successful events, like having a child
growing up and moving out of the
family home.
In the case of severe loss, such as death
or divorce, the process can become a
cycle, repeating over and over, although
it becomes less severe over time.
If you do not give yourself permission
to go through all the stages, or if
circumstances prevent you from going
through them properly, some of the
grief may be blocked and bottled up.
For example, people going through a
natural disaster may feel that they have
to stay strong and calm so they can
help other people cope, or so they can
help with the rescue effort.
This reaction is admirable and, in many
ways, helpful for others, but the grief
will still need to be released – we’ve
seen a lot of people come for help
from hypnosis who have been through
this.
Hypnotherapy can help you get over
grief.
More information at:
positivetranceformations.com.au