Grief Counseling and Accepting Death
In a very paradox way, death teaches us about living. This was the insight of Elisabeth Kubler Ross. Her life was dedicated to the dying and helping them find peace in their final days and hours. Her teaching and philosophy laid the ground work for many ideas in grief counseling.
Kubler Ross believed denial of death was unhealthy and noticed that people who avoided the subject lived empty lives. She believed that only through accepting death would we come to the realization that life is not forever and that we have only so much time on earth to accomplish what needs done.
In addition to this, Kubler Ross did not see death as the final chapter, but a new beginning. She believed that beyond this reality was a greater one where the spirit lives on. A new transformation begins at the moment of death where we enter into a new reality of existence. Even if one is not a theist, Kubler Ross pointed out that our memory, good deeds, and way of life can be etched in stone for future generations, achieving a different type of eternity.
In this way, Kubler Ross hoped to change Western Culture’s taboo views on death and to make death a topic at dinner tables or general conversation. How can we truly understand each other, our needs, wants and future desires, if this topic is laid to rest? In accepting death well before it comes, we can have a better understanding of it and its nature. If we understand that in order for us to exist we must one day also die, then we can approach the grim reaper with a smile and embrace.
In conclusion, True spiritual growth requires a healthy respect and awe for death not as a killer but a liberator.
If you are interested in counseling for bereavement courses, then please review our program.
Also if you would like to take continuing education courses in grief counseling, then please review the program.
Mark Moran, MA
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