Grieving In Social Work

The unfortunate fact is that everyone is going to have to deal with death at some point in their lives. Whether one works in the field where death is occurring or one must experience it with family members, friends, or even pets, it is something that is inevitable. When death occurs there is a process of grieving that one shall go through, some may gain acceptance over the loss and others may continue to be depressed or still retain the anger in side resulting from the loss. All people grieve differently; some people will wear their emotion on their sleeve and be outwardly emotional while other may hold it in and never cry (Axelrod, 2016, para. 5). Grieving is a process that many individuals experience when dealing with a loss.
The grieving …show more content…
During the stage of depression, the family members are coming to the realization that the loss is actually true and now they have to learn how to cope with the situation (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016, p. 706). My family has recently just had a pretty significant loss and the stage of depression has hit my husband the hardest. One has a hard time even thinking that life may be possible without the other person in their lives. As a social worker we have to apply effective coping strategies so the family feels like they can deal with the loss in an effective manner. The stage of bargaining can also be difficult for families who are dealing with loss. The individuals may believe that God something to do with it and are willing to do anything to get that person back so they can spend more time with them. Working with the family can be challenging in having them come to the realization that it is going to happen and a bargaining situation is not going to work. All of the models within the grieving process are not easy although some may be more challenging than others who are experiencing a …show more content…
I feel the first thing a social worker can do to effectively work with their clients is take care of their mental health. Working with those in hospice can be taxing not only mentally, but also physically. I have worked in the field and as much as I did love it I had to make sure I was not taking those feelings home with me. As a social worker in the hospice profession one must listen to their body in times of stress and recognizing the stress indicators as well as staying in tune with our spiritual self (Jones, 2008, p. 38). It is hard to watch families go through the sense of loss and the grieving process, but it is a normal process and at some time we all are going to have to experience