Grief and Loss

We can experience grief and loss from the death of a loved one, and we can experience it from many types of loss (i.e., divorce, job loss, adult kids moving out of the home, moving to a new home, etc.).

When dealing with grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance), we often think of the five stages of grief. But they are a bit simplistic for describing grief and were originally identified by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, MD as the stages of dying.

In past work, I have worked with community members, community organizations, and interdisciplinary professionals to bring improvements to palliative and hospice care. I have also led teams of mental health professionals that run 1-on-1 grief and loss counselling and group programs. Having somewhat recently losing my own father and visited him during his short stay in hospice, I noticed things like anger, immense sadness and acceptance. I suppose there as also bargaining during his brief illness when I had hoped he would recover – or at least last longer.

There are many situations that can make grief harder and each person will experience grief differently. If you are having difficulty with grieving (from any type of loss), connect with Reverve and let’s work together to figure out ways of moving forward.