We all walk the path of grief… even though it’s certainly not a linear path, it can be helpful to know what may be to come for you.
Today, we are exploring the Five Stages of Grief, created by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Elisabeth was a psychiatrist and a pioneer of hospice. Over time, she noticed similarities of experiences that her patients experienced which later became her Five Stages of Grief.
Years later, Elisabeth worked with David Kessler to adapt the Stages of Grief that she observed through her work with those living with terminal illness to accommodate the experience of the bereaved.
It seems a number of people have heard of the Stages of Grief. In my experience, there’s quite a bit of misunderstandings regarding the stages. So, just in case, let me clarify a few things…
#1 The Stages of Grief were originally created from observations of the grief process of those living with a terminal illness and then later applied to the bereaved experience.
#2 You may or may not experience every stage… your grief is unique to you.
#3 Grief does not follow these stages in a clean manner… step-by-step. Unfortunately, grief is messy, energy consuming, and can catch you off guard…
#4 Grief is not linear and these stages where not intended to be understood that way. It is expected for you to jump from one aspect of grief to another throughout the day, over time and even quickly. Thoughts and feelings are transient… they come and go.
#5 The word “stages” was simply chosen to help explain the grouping of grief experiences that were witnessed, not to try to predict the actual movement through grief.
Now that we cleared the air on that…
Watch the video. Have paper and pen available to make some notes.
More information…
- Here is the link to Amazon for On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.
- Here is the link to Amazon for On Grief and Grieving by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D. and David Kessler.
- David Kessler has a wonderful group of resources on his website Grief.com