A summary of Grief Models

Over the last century, mental health and grief researchers have proposed various models to describe the grieving process ……

Sigmund Freud proposed the original ‘grief work’ theory, which involved the breaking of ties with the deceased, readjusting to new life circumstances, and building new relationships.

William Worden, proposed four tasks of healthy grief in his book “Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner.” The four tasks are: accepting the reality of the loss, experiencing the pain of grief, adjusting to a world without the deceased, and finding an enduring connection with the deceased while moving on with life. 

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross describes five stages of grief in her book “On Death and Dying”.  They are shock and denial, anger, resentment and guilt, depression, and finally acceptance.

Stroebe and Schut proposed a ‘dual-process model’ with grief being a process of oscillation between two modes, a ‘loss orientation’ mode when the griever engages in emotion-focused coping, and a ‘restoration orientation’ mode when the griever engages in problem-focused coping.  In the loss-orientation mode, the grieving individual focuses on the loss and the pain associated with it. This mode involves confronting the reality of the loss, experiencing the pain of grief, and processing the emotions associated with it.  In the restoration-oriented mode, the grieving individual focuses on restoring their life and adapting to the new reality without the deceased. This mode involves finding new roles and relationships, developing new skills, and creating new meaning in life.

Hall has proposed that loss provides the possibility of life-enhancing ‘post-traumatic’ growth as the individual integrates the lessons of loss and resilience.

Neimeyer suggested that the construction of meaning was the main issue in grief.