Working with Loss and Grief: A New Model for PractitionersLoss is a universal human experience. Supporting those who are grieving a significant life loss is a key role for many professionals in health and social care settings and is the focus in many voluntary organizations. Although there is extensive literature on loss and bereavement, practitioners often struggle to see how to put theory into practice. Working with Loss and Grief provides a new model that makes clear connections between theory and practice. The Range of Response to Loss model provides a theoretical compass' for recognizing the wide variability in reaction to loss and the Adult Attitude to Grief scale is a tool for mapping' individual grief and its change over time. Together these provide a framework for practitioners to use in: Listening to the stories' of grief told by clients/patients Identifying common patterns in grief Recognizing individual difference in grief response Assessing the need for therapeutic intervention or support Prompting therapeutic dialogue Guiding therapeutic focus Measuring client's/patient's progress Appraising outcome Case examples are used to show that the experience of grief is highly individual, but also, reassuringly capable of being understood in terms of general concepts. As such it is a valuable resource not only for practitioners and trainees in counseling and social work, but also for psychologists, doctors, nurses, and for researchers studying loss and grief. |
