A self-help course to help you work through grief and loss
Grief is intense sorrow. It is a natural, emotional response to loss when we lose someone or something that was dear to us (loved one, a pet) or part of us (amputation, mastectomy). The loss causes physical, emotional, spiritual, or psychological trauma and grief.
”I will never be the same again”
Most persons who have experienced loss share the statement above. Grief is change. The change that loss causes are not planned or asked for. Most of the time, the ”new normal” is intolerable to bear because it all happens at once. We yearn to be the same person we were before – but the change is permanent. Few other things in life change and mould us as loss does. It is futile to hope things go back to how they were and that you will be the same person as before. A better approach would be to make sense of what happened and eventually embrace the change.
The five stages of grief
Our reaction to grief is unique – as unique as the person experiencing them. Generally, the following five stages can be identified in grieving people and do not appear in a defined sequence: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Loss. Instead, we should view the five stages of grief as learning to live without the person we lost.
The Five Stages of Grief includes denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. In no defined sequence, most of these stages’ broad individual experience occurs when faced with the reality of their impending death or that of a loved one. Thus, the reactions to illness, death, and loss are as unique as those experiencing them.
Many people find grief overwhelming, regardless of the cause. This course aims to guide you through some important steps that will help you cope better.
The course was developed by Dr Christo Naude who has been a trauma counsellor at Netcare 911 for the past 12 years.
The course consists of 11 sessions that follow a specific order to guide you. The option of text-based counselling to assist you if you get stuck is included in each phase.
