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Loss of a sibling can occur at multiple times in a life. One can be young or old. This loss always stings but can vary in pain. It also can call into play the fragile nature of life and how quickly one can pass.
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Training Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals who wish to become a certified grief counselor.
When national tragedies or disasters occur, the nation as a whole can grief. Social reactions to loss that collectively affect the majority can negatively affect larger populations. Social grief is a reality for many who experience grief at a collective level.
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Grief Counseling.
Bad memories or hauntings can be difficult while grieving. Any type of memory can bring one back to the loss. Grief Monsters are these type of memories that resurface and if not confronted or properly understood can cause big problems.
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification as a Grief Counselor.
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Fandom to individuals or sports teams is a big part of American society. One forms close ties to public figures or actors or for one’s sports team. Whether football, baseball, basketball or hockey, or professional or college levels, individuals form tight bonds with their teams. They became entranced by the teams record, status, players, and play close attention to every move and play. In addition, individuals invest heavily financially in tickets, or sports clothes, pennants, or mugs. Family gatherings around sporting events become very important and the value of a particular team becomes identical to family tradition, history and local area. The team represents the person and his or her background. In many ways, it can become very personal.
Due to this type of bond that involves investment of self, the team is not merely an outside agent but part of the individual. While the person may not play the game, suffer the loss, or earn the win, the individual does mentally and emotionally share every play and outcome. This can lead to the pain of loss and grief when the team loses or suffers. It is a pain that is real because it involves the person’s life itself as well. The day or week may be greatly affected by a loss.
The degree of the loss and adjustment however determines the healthy response versus the pathological response. A healthy individual who finds great joy in sports has a greater connection than someone who sees it only as minor entertainment. The bond to the team hence will create a natural response of grief due to loss. If a team loses or is re-located, a true pain can set in that is personal. However, how one adjusts and is able to respond to life itself after the loss determines if the response is normal or pathological. If one feels low or bummed out, it is quite natural to feel this way for a couple days, but if one enters into a depressed state for weeks and is unable to interact or find interest in life, then the connection and the loss itself is pathological.
Fans can be fanatical. It is OK to have fun and it is definitely normal for the passionate fan to feel grief and sadness over loss. However, when that loss becomes so empowering that it prevents the person from enjoying life outside of sports, or prevents them from existing in the world, then one should seek counseling help and re-evaluate the bonds one has with the particular team.
Too many times, one sees violence at sporting events. This type of deep passion is associated with unhealthy bonds with the team. It involves associating the team with oneself so deeply, that anyone else becomes the enemy. Loss hence becomes extremely painful for these individuals and can negatively affect their life.
Sports is fun. It is good and for those who have deeper bonds to a team due to family history, community or identity, then one should find great pride in that, but one should not allow it to become disproportionate and cause massive depression or violent moods. One will suffer the grief of loss more than a regular outsider, if one is bonded with a team, and that is OK. The joy of having such a connection enhances the entertainment and value, but one needs to prevent such attachments from becoming pathological.
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Training Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Grief Counseling.
One of the first family losses a child experiences is the loss of a grandparent. This loss has ripples throughout the family dynamic and resets many traditions.
First it is twofold. It affects not only grandchild, but the parents as well who have lost their own parent. A twofold grief that manifests itself on two generations can be difficult within a home as parents and children grieve the loss. The intensity will depend on the bonds and closeness between individuals but for many losing a grandparent is a significant loss. For some, a grandparent is like a parent. Others they are nevertheless important figures in one’s raising and development. Some play more key and active roles in their grandchildren’s daily life. This will have an affect on the person and his or her loss.
The death of a grandparent can occur very young or for those blessed, later in life. The time, place and details surrounding the loss can all affect the loss as well. One who loses a grandparent unexpectedly as opposed to over a long terminal illness will experience the loss differently. Classically, most will experience a loss of a grandparent due to terminal illness and be around their teen to 20s, but for those who fall outside those parameters will all experience different types of reaction to loss.
Secondary losses and exposure to grief maybe for the first time manifest. The person may have difficult process understanding loss and the shock it causes. For many, close relatives were always immune to death and dying but suddenly, the death of a grandparent can shock a grandchild into understanding the reality of death. This may come with difficulty especially since it is the first real experience with death. Life will change because of this loss. Family dinners, or holiday traditions will change. This can be difficult to process especially when this is the first experience with death and the person has to come to grips with the change in life.
Death is very terrifying but it is part of life. Losing a grandparent reminds individuals of the reality of death for the first time in many cases. It teaches one how to grieve the loss of someone close and how grief feels throughout its many phases. It is a great pain but also a teaching moment that will later prepare one for the death of parents, spouses and close friends. Pain is part of this fallen world and it is sad that losses to those we love occur, but grandparents represent the usually the first loss in life that has real meaning.
If you would like to learn more about Grief Counseling Training and how to help others, then please review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification as a Grief Counselor.
Unfortunately, many individuals and their grief are ignored, downplayed or ridiculed. Those who face such grief situations are considered disenfranchised. Individuals deserve to have every loss accepted and respected but sometimes due to the nature of the loss or type of loss, they feel embarrassed or belittled.
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking to a four year certification in grief counseling
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Writing and journaling is very therapeutic, especially with grief. One is able to express oneself without others present and also allows one to better understand one’s own sorrow and grief. Writing is an excellent coping tool for those grieving.
The article, “How to understand your grief through writing” by Beth Daly takes a closer look at how writing can help a grieving individuals. She states,
“Reading or writing about grief is not for the faint-hearted. Like all writing, it’s best not to edit too early. Let the work rest and come back to it when ready. Save that first raw draft and create a new version when you feel you’ve moved on to another, more objective stage.”
To read the entire article, please click here
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Training Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in grief counseling.
Divorce can be crippling to many. The heartbreak can devastate a person. The secondary losses of comfort and security are also immense as a person is displaced and thrown into a world of chaos. Divorce is one of the more stressful and sad events anyone can go through and it is important to know who to talk to and how to better cope during this chaotic time
The article, “Understanding Gray Divorce and the Grieving Process” by Carol Hughes and Bruce Fredenburg look deeper at the pain and stress of divorce. Their article states,
“Specific to divorcing couples is the work of University of Virginia psychologist Robert Emery, who differentiates grieving an irrevocable loss like death from grieving a revocable loss like divorce, in which the possibility of reconciliation remains for the former spouses and their children. Based on his case observations and research, he developed a theory of grief in divorce that describes a cycle of grief for the divorcing couple. ”
To read the entire article, please click here
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification as a grief counselor.
Anger is part of the grieving process. Kubler Ross lists it after denial as a basic response to dying and loss. Anger must be channeled in a positive way though with grief. When great social losses occur due to injustice, anger can be productive in the grieving process to about bringing change
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Program and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Grief Counseling
Please also review AIHCP’s Anger Management Consulting Program as well.
Losing a spouse can be very painful. The sense of the loss can vary depending on duration of relationship, state of the relationship and the bond itself. For many, losing a spouse can create a deep void of pain and create multiple secondary losses as well
Please also review AIHCP’s Grief Counseling Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Grief Counseling
Please review the video below