Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy: A Handbook for the Mental Health Practitioner

by J. William Worden PhD, ABPP

Overview

Fourth Edition Named a 2013 Doody’s Core Title!

Praise for the Fourth Edition:

"In the fields of death education, research and counseling/psychology, surely Bill Worden is a giant...ALL of us, personally and professionally, are indebted to [him]. From his work we may be just a bit wiser, a bit healthier, a bit more competent, and a lot more in touch with meaning for the sake of all who mourn."

--Illness, Crisis,&Loss

"[If] you knew Worden's work and his writings previously, you'll find an enhanced book with a much broader and challenging perspective than his previous editions. If you are not familiar with Bill Worden, then it is time to begin."

--Ben Wolfe, MEd, LICSW, Fellow in Thanatology, Program Manager/Grief Counselor, St. Mary's Medical Center's Grief Support Center Duluth, MN

Encompassing new content on the treatment of grief, loss, and bereavement, the updated and revised fifth edition of this gold-standard text continues to deliver the most up-to-date research and practical information for upper-level students and practitioners alike. The fifth edition includes updates to the author’s Tasks and Mediators of Mourning, new case studies, and valuable Instructor Resources. The text highlights recent initiatives to extend care to the bereaved and fosters the knowledge and skills required for effective intervention and even preventative treatment. Also addressed is the impact of social media and online resources for “cyber mourning,” changes in the DSM-5 as they influence bereavement work, alternate models of mourning, and new findings on the varied qualities of grief.

The fifth edition continues to present a well-organized, concise format that is easy to read and provides critical information for master’s level health courses in grief counseling and grief therapy as well as for new and seasoned practitioners alike.

New to the Fifth Edition:

• Refinements to the author’s TASKS of Mourning
• New considerations regarding Mediators of Mourning on social variables
• The impact of social media and online resources on “cyber mourning”
• Complicated spiritual grief after mass shootings and other catastrophes
• Changes in the DSM-5 as they influence bereavement work
• Cross-cultural and multifaceted counseling for specialized grief, including grandparent’s grief, prolonged grief disorder, and HIV-AIDS-related bereavement
• Updated information on grief and depression
• New case studies and updated references
• Includes reflection and discussion questions in each chapter
• Updated and revised information on grief counseling training
• Accompanying instructor packet with Manual, PowerPoint slides, and Test Bank

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826134752
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	05/28/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	564 KB

About the Author

J. William Worden, PhD, ABPP, is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and holds academic appointments at the Harvard Medical School and at the Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology in California. He is also Co-Principal Investigator of the Harvard Child Bereavement Study, based at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Recipient of 5 major NIH grants, his research and clinical work over 40 years has centered on issues of life-threatening illness and life-threatening behavior.

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Table of Contents

Preface     xiii
Introduction     1
What Is the Nature of Complicated Bereavement?     1
Disenfranchised Grief     2
Continuing Bonds     3
Meaning Making     4
Resilience     5
Trauma and Grief     6
Attachment, Loss, and the Experience of Grief     13
Attachment Theory     13
Is Grief a Disease?     16
Normal Grief     17
Grief and Depression     31
Understanding the Mourning Process     37
Tasks of Mourning     39
Dual-Process Model of Grieving     53
The Mourning Process: Mediators of Mourning     57
Who the Person Who Died Was     57
The Nature of the Attachment     58
How the Person Died     59
Historical Antecedents     63
Personality Variables     64
Social Variables     73
Concurrent Stresses     75
Caution     75
When Is Mourning Finished?     76
Grief Counseling: Facilitating Uncomplicated Grief     83
Goals of Grief Counseling     84
Identifying the At-Risk Bereaved     87
Counseling Principles and Procedures     89
Useful Techniques     105
The Use of Medication     108
Grief Counseling in Groups     109
Facilitating Grief Through Funeral Ritual     118
Does Grief Counseling Work?     120
Abnormal Grief Reactions: Complicated Mourning     127
Why People Fail to Grieve     127
How Grief Goes Wrong     134
An Emerging Diagnosis of Complicated Grief     135
An Existing Model of Complicated Mourning     137
Diagnosing Complicated Mourning     146
Grief Therapy: Resolving Complicated Mourning     153
Goals and Setting of Grief Therapy     155
Procedures for Grief Therapy     156
Special Considerations for Grief Therapy     167
Techniques and Timing     169
Dreams in Grief Counseling and Therapy     171
Some Considerations     172
Evaluating Results     174
Grieving Special Types of Losses     179
Suicide     179
Counseling Survivors of Suicide Victims     183
Sudden Death     187
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)     192
Miscarriages      195
Stillbirths     197
Abortion     199
Anticipatory Grief     201
AIDS     206
Grief and Family Systems     217
Death of a Child     222
Children Whose Parents Die     230
Family Intervention Approaches     236
Grief and the Elderly     239
Family Versus Individual Needs     244
The Counselor's Own Grief     251
Loss History     254
Stress and Burnout     255
Training for Grief Counseling     261
Grief Sketches 1-18     264
Appendix     283
Bibliography     285
Index     305

What People are Saying About This

Colin Parkes Parkes

Worden has brought a critical and discerning mind to bear.... His delineation of "the tasks of mourning" is a masterly and original summation, and the ways by which we can help others to grow through grieving are clearly described. (From the Foreword by Colin Murray Parkes, UK edition)

William M. Lamers

This book is the 'Bible' for those involved in the field of bereavement work...It is a straightforward, tightly focused, practical, soundly reasoned, compact, working text. (William M. Lamers, Jr., MD., The Lamers Medical Group)

Editorial Reviews

Worden ... has again provided mental health professionals with a superb guide describing specific principles and procedures that may be helpful in working with bereaved clients undergoing normal or abnormal grief reactions ... an extremely practical book and an invaluable resource.

Contemporary Psychology

If you had one book dealing with grief counseling available to you, this is the one you should select.

Caregivers Quarterly

The process of grief counseling is outlined in this book describing what people experience following a loss, how to help people through their grief, how to tell the difference between uncomplicated and complicated grief, and how to treat complicated grief. Current developments in the field since 1991 are incorporated in this third edition, which adds seven "mediators of mourning" to the previous framework of four "tasks of mourning." There is new information on special types of losses such as sudden death, abortion, and suicide. Worden is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and holds academic appointments at Harvard Medical School and at the Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology. He has lectured and written on topics related to terminal illness and bereavement. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)