Healthy Grief
Monica Germaine
Grand Canyon University
Spirituality in Health Care
HLT 310V June 25, 2012
Healthy Grief Each day tragedy and suffering may come into people’s lives. Losing loved ones by disease, accident, natural disaster, or experiencing personal trauma is very painful. The emotional, physical, and spiritual reaction in response to these tragedies is known as grief or grieving. Grief is a natural reaction to loss and at times can be a very strong and overwhelming emotion. In this paper the writer will define and describe the model of grieving by the psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Through the Biblical …show more content…
They believe that man is immortal, the body is not the person the spirit (thetan) is the most important part. They believe that when a person dies, the spirit should be encouraged to go off and seek a new body. A Scientologist can be very optimist and when faced with death they do not view it as a great calamity and are confident that they will be back. They neither need nor want sympathy over how sad it is they are dying (Hamilton 2010). Scientology has what is known as “auditing”. This is pastoral counseling that can help to alleviate pain (grief) associated with a loss. It addresses things in one’s life and helps to work through the issues. It is a path of spiritual enlightment. Because scientologists think a person will come back they are far less to grieve about the loss (Scientology/grief). The Scientologist method of grieving contrasts greatly with those of the Kobler-Ross model of grieving. There is no bargaining with a Scientologist. They accept their condition and look forward to dying, experiencing a new dimension to their life. In the story of Job it stated that he grieved for many days (Job2:13). Even though one may grieve, a Scientologist feels grieving is over dramatized and should not be dwelt on for an extending period of time. …show more content…
The writer’s personal beliefs and experience with grieving compares to that of Bowlby’s theory of grief. His theory emphasizes the importance of human attachments and bonds that are developed early in life. He views attachment as a mutual relationship occurring as a result of long-term interaction which starts in infancy between a child and the parent and later between adults. These bonds remain active throughout the life cycle (Buglass 2010). The writer has a very strong connection with family, and these bonds do not end with our earthly life but continue on after death through the eternities. The writer felt that Bowlby’s explanation of strong affectional bonds with people and the emotional distress or reactions caused by a loss closely parallels the grieving process of the writer. His stages of grieving including: shock, yearning /protest, despair, and recovery have all been experienced by the writer (Buglass 2010). In doing research on grieving the writer has found that there is a common thread that is prevalent in each of the theories. It is that loss affects body, mind, and spirit. There are periods of anguish, sadness, and depression and finally there is an acceptance or recovery period. Each theory researched also agrees that grief or bereavement is an important process for people to go through in order to resolve a tragic