Counselling for Grief and Loss

Running head: COUNSELLING FOR GRIEF AND LOSS 1
Counselling for grief and loss
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COUNSELLING FOR GRIEF AND LOSS 2
Introduction
In case study one, Paul a 54 year old divorced with his wife. Later on, his only son Daniel also
moved to her mother’s place leaving Paul alone. Eventually, Daniel dies from a road accident.
Two years later, he has not moved on and this is an indicator of complicated grief. In case study
2, Jessica a 32 year old is in grief after her husband committed suicide 8 weeks ago. She is
experiencing nightmares, anger and guilt. She is therefore experiencing traumatic grief. Several
studies note that grief is detrimental as it affects the mental health and well-being of those
affected and can even lead to suicide (Barnard, 2019). Counselling is the only recommended
therapy in cases of grief. Since counselling leads to psychological healing among the affected
individuals, it is necessary for counsellors and other physicians to comprehend skills of assessing
grief responses to come up with effective intervention strategies and formulate a plan for self-
care to the affected individuals (Aldwin, Park, & Spiro III, n.d.). Within the framework of this
essay, there will be an analysis of assessment of complicated and traumatic grief responses of
two case studies. There will also be an analysis of appropriate interventions and strategies
specific to the case studies provided. Finally, there will be a discussion on how to formulate a
plan of care and professional support and a conclusion that will summarize the important points
in the essay.
Discussion
Assessment of complicated and traumatic grief responses
There are two clients. One is Paul who is 54 years old. His lovely wife walked out on her after
years of marriage and they had one son called Daniel who later on moved to his mother’s place
leaving Paul alone. After sometime, Paul was involved in an accident and died. The turn of

COUNSELLING FOR GRIEF AND LOSS 3
events has led to Paul experiencing what is known as complicated grief reaction. According to
research, complicated grief is a situation where an individual fails to move on with the loss of a
loved one for more than a year (Canfield, 2005). In this case study, it is 2 years since the death of
Paul’s son but he can’t move on. This therefore qualifies to be a complicated grief reaction.
Studies by Canfield further explain(Canfield, 2005) that it can be exhibited through difficulties
accepting the death, a feeling that life has no more meaning and inability to enjoy life. All of
these signs and symptoms were evident with Paul.
In the second case study, the client is Jessica who is 32 years old with three young daughters.
The client is in grief since she lost her husband of 10 years through suicide 8 weeks ago. From
the explanation or the signs and symptoms exhibited by Jessica, she is experiencing traumatic
grief. Traumatic grief according to studies by Carr in 2004, is the difficulty in adjusting to the
death of a loved one. Traumatic grief is occur as a result of unexpected death like an accident
and suicide. It also occurs as a result of an anticipated death after battling with sickness. In this
case, Jessica’s husband died unexpectedly after committing suicide and this warrants traumatic
grief (Canfield, 2005). Among the many signs and symptoms of traumatic grief are feelings of
futility about the future and Jessica has expressed this since she explained that the future is
doomed without her lovely husband. Other features include insomnia and nightmares, excessive
irritability and all of which were expressed by Jessica.

COUNSELLING FOR GRIEF AND LOSS 4
Interventions for grief
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
Different studies propose different approaches or strategies to clients experiencing complicated
grief like Paul. However, most of them agree or acknowledge psychological interventions and I
would also utilize the same approach to assist Paul. Psychological interventions are broad (Carr,
2004). It can be further subdivided into cognitive, behavioral and finally exposure therapy.
Cognitive therapy assists the counsellor to identify undesirable thinking patterns in relation to the
loss of their loved ones and then come up with ways that can assist the patient to revive their
thinking. Fishman propose that cognitive therapy involves one on one interaction between the
counsellor and the client in a number of sessions (Fishman, 2013). A study by Gross propose 10
to 25 sessions (Gross, 2018). Each session is expected to last not less than an hour. During these
sessions, the client will be expected to categorically state or explain the event that led to
complicated grief. This can be done through writing, verbal talking or even visiting the scene.
Furthermore, the bereaved should also explain or state the unfinished business they had with the
person who died (Gillies, Neimeyer, & Milman, 2015). In this case for example, Paul would
explain his plans for his son Daniel. Finally, the patient and the counsellor should talk about the
future and come up with ways to positively think about it.
Besides cognitive therapy for complicated grief, behavioral therapy can also be used. In this
intervention, the counsellor is expected to come up with activities that can aid the client to
engage with the world (Fishman, 2013). The activities should also focus on assisting the client
take part in pleasurable activities and establish goals for the future. In this case, I can assist Paul
engage in sports or games or come together sessions with his workers so that he finds a reason to
enjoy life and get over the grief.