Grief Counselling – BPS209

BEREAVEMENT

Bereavement literally means being deprived by death. If someone close to us dies, we through a process of mourning. Bereavement can have many physical and emotional effects on us, which will be covered later in the course.

LOSS

To experience loss, we need attachment. There are many theories about why humans and some animals make emotional attachments to others. Survival could be one reason. Some theorists argue that it is purely biological, whilst others argue that attachments form due to the need for safety and security. John Bowlby (1980) supported the latter view.

We learn attachment behaviour from the time we are born and this affects our relationships throughout our lives. If we learn to trust and have steady, dependable care, we are able to grow up with high self-esteem and independence. We are also able to love and be loved. The greater the attachment, there is obviously the greater potential for loss. We may experience many losses throughout our lives, the loss of a loved one, a pet, a job, financial security, but we may also experience the loss of potential, that is, what might have been, the job we might have had, the parent we never knew and son. This course covers grief counselling, supporting clients through the difficult process of coming to terms with their loss.

In this Warnborough online Grief Counselling course you will:

• Understand the stages of grief
• Learn more about the process of grieving
• Complete the essential studies for anyone who works/supports people who are grieving
• Understand bereavement and loss
• Learn more about supporting children, adolescents and adults through grieving

This online course is suitable for anyone looking to go into the following fields:

• Volunteer counsellors
• Trainee counsellors
• Anyone wishing to start counselling
• Police officers
• Law enforcement
• Teachers
• Social workers
• Parents
• Foster carers
• Carers
• Support workers
• Welfare workers
• Counsellors wishing to update their knowledge

COURSE STRUCTURE

The duration of this course is 100 hours and consists of 8 in-depth lessons.

1. Nature And Scope of Grief And Bereavement

• Understanding loss.
• Society’s views on loss.
• Coping with loss.
• Knowing what to expect.
• Mourning.
• Living with grief.
• Terminology.
• Types of grief.

2. Stages of Grief

• Common stages.
• Duration of grief.
• Denial.
• Anger.
• Bargaining.
• Depression.
• Acceptance.
• Tasks of mourning.
• Criticism.
• Mourning process in Judaism (case study).
• Response to loss and grieving.
• Not coping.

3. Grief and Children

• Grief for children up to 3 years old.
• Grief for 3 to 6 year old.
• Grief for 7 to 8 year old.
• Grief for children 9 years and older.
• Preparing a child for death.
• Sudden death.
• After a death.
• Funerals.
• Typical child responses to grief.
• Case studies.
• Feelings about suicide.
• Supporting a grieving child.
• Help from family and friends.
• Guidelines for letting children know what is and is not acceptable.
• Children with serious problems with loss and grief.

4. Grief and Adolescents

• Grief as a unique adolescent experience.
• Adolescent responses: remoteness, anger, abuse, tears, egocentrism, sense of universality, etc.
• Helping the grieving adolescent.
• Difference between adolescent and adult grief experience.

5. Adjustment to Bereavement

• What is grief.
• Accept the loss.
• Feel the pain.
• Adjust, Adapt, etc.
• Grief counselling.
• Counsellor’s response and intervention.

6. Abnormal Grief

• Complicated grief reactions.
• Worden’s categories of complicated grief reactions.
• Causes of abnormal grief.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Symptoms and treatment of PTSD.
• Loss of children in pregnancy: ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage.
• Supporting people with complicated grief.
• Managing grief after a disaster.
• The course of bereavement.
• Complications of bereavement.
• Traumatic grief.
• Risk factors for complications of bereavement.
• Treating bereaved individuals.
• Role of the professional in the early stages of disaster bereavement.

7. Preparing for Grief and Bereavement

• Sociocultural influences on the grief process.
• Grief and terminal illness.
• Preparing for approaching death.
• Practical preparations.
• Emotional responses of the dying.
• Responses of family and friends.

8. Future Outlook and Long-Term Grief

• Psychological aspects of long term grief.
• Chronic illness and grief case study.
• Disabled child case study.
• Strategies for handling long term grief: guided mourning, support groups, medication, etc.

COURSE AIMS

• Describe the nature and view of grief and bereavement counselling
• To identify through research and study, the meaning and responses of various loss situations, taking into account cultural variations
• To describe the different ways that children respond to grief and to develop appropriate strategies for them
• Evaluate the different means through which individuals are able to adjust to the loss and to consider other paths available to them.
• To describe when an individual’s response to grief may be considered abnormal and to discuss ways of assisting these individuals.
• Define the different ways of preparing for grief and bereavement and to consider social, cultural and psychological perspectives.
• Describe separation, loneliness, the effects of long-term grief and long-term counselling support strategies.

Master these questions

• List euphemisms for dying.
• Consider factors that can help set the conditions for the good death
• Discuss the ways that a wake or funeral service can be of help to mourners.
• Discuss attitudes toward death in society and how they affect the treatment of dying.
• Compare effective and ineffective support for people going through
• Explain why people pass through different stages at different times
• List mechanisms available to help a counsellor support someone who is grieving.
• Describe ways in which children might respond to grief.
• Explain why different children respond to grief in different ways.
• Describe counselling strategies for supporting the grieving child.
• Research how adolescents respond to grief.
• Outline counselling strategies for supporting the grieving adolescent.
• List suicide prevention strategies.
• Explain in general how we adjust to loss.
• List some dangers of loss.
• Describe some alternatives for loss recovery.
• Research how bereavement affects survivors.
• Describe some abnormal responses to grief, and how to determine they are abnormal.
• Describe some treatment methods for assisting a person suffering from abnormal grief.
• Briefly describe symptoms of PTSD
• Discuss socio-cultural perspectives in preparing for grief and bereavement.
• Research physiological and psychological effects of loneliness in the aged.
• Describe some effects of long term grief.
• Outline some long term counselling support strategies.

HOW DOES A WARNBOROUGH ONLINE COURSE WORK?

You can start the course whenever is convenient for you. You will be studying from home and have access to support from our qualified tutors. Practical exercises and research tasks will be set at the end of each lesson – including an assignment. You will submit this assignment to your course tutor, who will mark your work and give you constructive feedback and suggestions.

If you have any questions please contact us.