LOSS & BEREAVEMENT
Research into Loss and Bereavement has shown for a person to successfully move on with their life, they need to have worked through a range of tasks:
- Accept the reality of the loss or death
- Work through the pain or grief
- Adjust to an environment in which the deceased is missing
- To emotionally relocate the deceased and move on in life
Emotionally we can have the same problems with loss as with death – examples being divorce, separation, loss of friends or children, loss of a limb or eyesight.
Another type of loss that is explored with clients is a loss of childhood either through having to take on a parental role early in life or through living consistently in the fear of abuse whether verbal, physical of sexual.
What May Be Normal Grief Reactions ?
Feelings:
Some of the common feelings that may be manifested during the grieving process are sadness, anger, fatigue, guilt, shock, anxiety, loneliness, helplessness, yearning or relief.
Physical Sensations:
These can be overlooked in this time of grieving but similar, common reactions have been reported by clients in grieving counselling. They include tightness in the chest, dry mouth, breathlessness, over sensitivity to noise, weakness in muscles, lack of energy, emptiness in the stomach.
Reactions and Behaviours:
Common examples are disbelief, confusion, hallucinations, sleeping problems, poor appetite, absent mindedness, social withdrawal, dreams of the deceased, crying, avoidance or sighing.
Counsellors are trained to listen for any underlying messages that the client is presenting and also to be watchful for their body language as this can help provide further understanding.