Grieving is individual but there are some commonalities

Recently, I attended a Grief seminar and learned many strategies for helping someone who is grieving.  Older adults fit this category as they are often losing spouses, friends, careers, social status (when they retire), financial status and the list goes on.  Seventy-five (75%) percent of all deaths occur in persons 65 or older.  Many of my clients would lose a spouse or have a health incident that they could not get past.  They would become stuck and could not live their life in the present.  They stayed in the past.

Grief is experienced differently over the life span.  Research has shown that the early parent-child attachment bond is crucial to determining how easily a bereaved person moves through the disorganization phase of the grief and into the reorganization phase of the grief process.  It is important for the bereaved person to experience the pain and process it as well as to establish the meaning of the relationship with the deceased.  Sometimes, they must be nudged to increase functioning in the present and to develop hope for the future. Continue reading →