Twycross's Five Stages Of Grief Counseling

Everyone experiences a period of bereavement at some point during their lives following the death of a friend or loved one. Grief is associated with the feelings of sadness, anger, anxiety, guilt and regret. It is a reaction to any form of loss. “Acute grief is characterized by recurrent episodes of severe anxiety and psychological pain…” (Twycross 77). Grief is more than an emotional experience; however, extreme experiences of grief can become life-threatening. Working through the grieving process is neither a short-term activity nor one that can be rushed, not everyone experiences the same stages or the same order. “Counselling should be practised within a recognized code of ethics. This should include maintaining confidentiality as well
“These pangs of grief begin within a few hours or days of bereavement and usually reach a peak of severity within five to fourteen days” (Twycross 177). In most cases it usually takes a few days for the grief to take place, although not everyone's the same so the stages may be out of order depending on the individual. Occasionally, the first stage of grief is anger. “Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from the inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed up. But hatred is a curve blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves” (Albom 149). At times people tend to handle their grief by turning it into anger, as a result they take it out on the people around them. Usually, they don’t intend to release the weight in that way it’s just the only way they know how to cope. “Grief maybe expressed as anger, self-reproach, with guilt and loss of self-esteem, pining or depression” (Davis 88). On occasion people try to mask their true feeling by covering them up with other emotions. Davis also explains that anger and guilt typically go together, people may blame themselves for taking their anger out on others around them and see themselves as a burden (89). Not only do people take their anger out on others around them, they take it out on themselves. They develop extreme self-hatred and occasionally develop suicidal thoughts. Klagsbrun illustrates a group he coordinated, a woman felt she wasn’t enough to be alive and be receiving help from others; the group focused on life and what it was like facing the routine problems of life (167). Dealing with your emotions on your own can be challenging and a possibility of making things worse, being able to express the way you feel and compare to others going through the same situation can be very