stages of grief

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Stages Of Grief

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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.

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Stages Of Grief

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.

This helps you permit yourself to

grieve. And it is important to go

through the process.

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.

The process of grief was first

investigated formally in the 1960s by

Dr Elizabeth Kübler-Ross.

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.

However, the process is similar no

matter why you have to go through the

process.

People have similar reactions

when faced with the other

tragedies of life:

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.

All of the five stages are necessary parts

of the process.

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