Introduction to Grief and Loss
‘Death is a universal phenomenon, it comes to all of us and when it comes it is final’ (Early 2004, p.12). To a certain degree there is no amount of preparing for the impact a loved one’s death will have on an individual; no amount of organising or understanding noticeably lessens its effects.
‘Bereavement is a turning point in personal development, a psycho-social transition that carries an increased risk to physical and mental health’ (Worden 1983, p. ix), wherein the passage is one of the most severe and painful journeys a person can embark on. There are not many options in the wake of bereavement; deny its reality or consciously find a way to get through it; commonly termed mourning. However having some understanding …show more content…
Certainly, each of us will take our own unique path, steering our way through each particular landmark as we go, to eventually arrive at our chosen destination but there are also common threads through the process of mourning that gently signpost each new piece of territory entered into; offering a normalising to what can be experienced as very frightening.
Two Models of Grief ; Rando and Murray
Parkes
Therese Rando’s Six ‘R’ Processes and Colin Murray Parke’s
Four Phases are both models of bereavement in adults which show respectively their developments from earlier models within the field of thanatology, in which the ultimate objective is a completion of the task of mourning in favour of an equilibrium being re-established. Both of these models can serve as topographical maps that reveal the landscape of grief’s highs and lows.
In the first section of this essay I will consider each of these models individually. The second section of this essay will compare the nature of the two models in which both parallels and contrast can be found. Finally I will conclude on what has been explored in the preceding pages.
The Six ‘R’ Processes by Rando
Therese A. Rando promoted the Six ‘R’ Processes within
‘Death is a universal phenomenon, it comes to all of us and when it comes it is final’ (Early 2004, p.12). To a certain degree there is no amount of preparing for the impact a loved one’s death will have on an individual; no amount of organising or understanding noticeably lessens its effects.
‘Bereavement is a turning point in personal development, a psycho-social transition that carries an increased risk to physical and mental health’ (Worden 1983, p. ix), wherein the passage is one of the most severe and painful journeys a person can embark on. There are not many options in the wake of bereavement; deny its reality or consciously find a way to get through it; commonly termed mourning. However having some understanding …show more content…
Certainly, each of us will take our own unique path, steering our way through each particular landmark as we go, to eventually arrive at our chosen destination but there are also common threads through the process of mourning that gently signpost each new piece of territory entered into; offering a normalising to what can be experienced as very frightening.
Two Models of Grief ; Rando and Murray
Parkes
Therese Rando’s Six ‘R’ Processes and Colin Murray Parke’s
Four Phases are both models of bereavement in adults which show respectively their developments from earlier models within the field of thanatology, in which the ultimate objective is a completion of the task of mourning in favour of an equilibrium being re-established. Both of these models can serve as topographical maps that reveal the landscape of grief’s highs and lows.
In the first section of this essay I will consider each of these models individually. The second section of this essay will compare the nature of the two models in which both parallels and contrast can be found. Finally I will conclude on what has been explored in the preceding pages.
The Six ‘R’ Processes by Rando
Therese A. Rando promoted the Six ‘R’ Processes within