Grieving Process

Grief is defined as our ability to deal with loss.  Grief is commonly identified with the loss or passing of a loved one close to us.  Grief is not only associated with the death of a loved one, it could be loss of a job, social status or sometimes marriage.  Any form of change in our lives can result in grief.

Two different aspects of grief are bereavement, which is the state of loss and grief, is the reaction to a loss.

There are five stages of grief.  Denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

The grieving process is like a spiraling roller-coaster ride, where a grieving person can relive emotions over and over again before letting go and moving to another stage of grieving.

Grief work is summarized by the acronym TEAR (To accept the reality of a loss; Experiencing the pain of a loss; Adjusting to a new environment without the object you lost; R-Reinvest in your new reality).  TEAR can only begin once acceptance, which is stage five, has been reached.

Grieving can take a long time; it depends on the individual and the healing process.  Grieving a loss doesn’t mean forget; writing a journal of your feeling of grief or remembering special moments in regards to the one you have lost, making a collage to keep good memories around you, will help you come to terms with the loss and therefore you will begin to heal along with taking all the time needed to grieve.  It’s never easy to deal with a loss, and often you find that you are unable to pick up the pieces and move on.  The grieving process doesn’t go away overnight; take all the time you need to heal from your loss.