While the Five Stages of Grief are an excellent look at how individuals deal with death and loss, they may not apply to every individual. In fact, individuals grieve through different stages and face grief different ways. This is not to discredit the stages proposed by Kubler Ross but more so to address to grief counselors, that it is not always the way.
The article, “Five Things You Should Know About the ‘Five Stages of Grief’” by Eleanor Haley from the site “Whats Your Grief” reviews how one should understand the stages. She states,
“The five stages of grief are not absolute truth. Like all theory, it’s based on a hypothesis (an educated guess). There is a bit of research to support the theory, but there is also a bit of research to contradict the theory. In reality, other grief models may fit your experience exponentially better than the ‘Kubler-Ross Model’.”
To read the entire article, please click here
While Kubler Ross theory and stages are valuable, one must understand they are not always linear as well as many steps are repeated. One should not dismiss it in grief and loss but one should also be free to wander from it when needed. Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification and see if it meets your needs and goals.