Purpose: Students are able to evaluate the nuance of grief from multiple perspectives, including their own, and examine the extent to which small contextual changes can impact the entire grief journey for either those facing end of life or those who have lost.
At the end of the life-span, it is important that we acknowledge that the one absolute constant in human life is death. Due to the fact that all humans must face death, it is, therefore, inevitable that each of us will be impacted by the loss that accompanies the death of a person in our lives. Grief is the emotional, cognitive, and physical human response that occurs in all people who deal with loss.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross developed a 5 stage theory of death and dying that defined the typical psychological and emotional responses of those facing the ordeal of impending death. Over the years since her theory was published, these 5 stages have been taken and changed for the consumption of the masses and coined as “The 5 stages of Grief”. While Kubler-Ross herself warned that these stages should not be viewed as fixed or linear, many people try to understand the journey through grief in exactly that way.
Instructions: Reflect upon a time when you have had a personal experience with grief. This may be a loss that you suffered first hand or one that you have walked a loved one through. Begin your reflection by describing and reflecting on this experience. Then, address the questions below:
What are the “5 stages of grief”? How might these stages manifest differently for someone faced with their own imminent death, as Kubler-Ross originally intended?
In your experience of grief, do the 5 stages hold true? Why or why not?
Discuss the ways that grief can impact a person emotionally, cognitively, and physically. Reflect on how it may or may not have affected you in those ways.
Discuss grief in a cultural context and how that played a part in your grief experience or didn’t. Reflect on how our culture could do better.
Reflect on any changes, positive or negative, that you observe in yourself as a result of the grieving process. Are there things that you would do differently now as a result of those changes? Why or why not?
How has your thinking about this topic changed, if it has, during this course?
Describe if there was an activity or reading that specifically assisted with that change
