The Kübler Ross Model: A Short Description and Personal Reflection

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross came out with the five stages of grief in her book “On Death and Dying.” The five stages of grief are 1) denial, 2) anger, 3) bargaining, 4) depression and 5) acceptance. Kübler-Ross’ diagram has helped many psychotherapists in their work - especially with patients dealing with loss. However, this theory is still being strongly debated on because some critics state that when someone experiences loss, they do not experience loss. Rather, they are resilient The first stage, denial, is when the person suffering refuses to accept the reality of things. Next is anger. In this stage, the individual suffering from grief manifests his or her anger about the situation in various ways. The third stage is bargaining wherein the person tries to come up with a compromise for the situation. After this stage comes depression where the person slowly accepts the reality of things and naturally feels sadness, fear, regret, etc. It is said to be acceptance with emotional attachment. This is usually the longest stage for people suffering from grief. Lastly, comes acceptance. This is the stage where the individual slowly detaches him or herself emotionally from the situation and finds peace within themselves Personally, I think that the Kübler-Ross model has helped me understand the grieving process more clearly. Before I learned about this model, I thought that my depression was going to last forever but as the famous saying goes “time heals everything” and I think that that is an essential factor to this model: time. I think that you shouldn’t rush yourself when you are grieving. You must give yourself time to go through all five stages for you to finally be okay again. Now that I understand what the Kübler-Ross model is about, I think that I am one step closer to getting to know myself better because now, when I am grieving, I can tell in which part of the cycle I am in and having that knowledge comforts me. Moreover, I can be of help to others. I can