So far (read previous posts here) we have identified some specific reactions to your loss, secondary and prior losses and looked at various feelings which are individual to you at this time. Don’t expect these feelings to disappear overnight. Below are some helpful tips that you might like to consider: Look after yourself. You may […]
Resilience
Losing a Loved One: Strategies to Cope
Whether the loss of your loved one was sudden or expected, the grief associated with the loss hurts. Sometimes we put ourselves through unnecessary pain by wishing for things like a better relationship or more time with the deceased, or the opportunity to say things we didn’t say when we were with the person. This […]
- March 10, 2008
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Losing a Loved One: Prior Losses
Some of us may feel we have encountered more than our fair share of losses in life. The emotion of grief is not restricted to the reaction to the death of a relative or close friend. It can be experienced in many situations including divorce, miscarriage, severe injury, loss of a job or pet, or […]
- March 7, 2008
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Losing a Loved One: Secondary Losses
Losing a loved one can bring about many unexpected changes. When the deceased is someone extremely close like a partner or family member, the loss brings with it other or secondary losses which impact on the lives of the surviving family members. The personal experience of loss should be looked at individually, as no two […]
- March 6, 2008
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- Ageing Issues, Loss & Grief, Relationship & Families, Spirituality & Religion
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Losing a Loved One: Stages of Grief
As complicated as it sounds, grief is a process which can be worked through. A famous psychiatrist, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross is recognised as one of the foremost authorities in the field of death and dying. Her first book, On Death and Dying is required reading in many universities in the schools of medicine and social sciences. […]
- March 5, 2008
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- Ageing Issues, Loss & Grief, Relationship & Families
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Losing a Loved One: Common Reactions
The impact of grief can cause tremendous chaos to all aspects of our life. We all respond differently to grief but the most important thing to remember is that most reactions are normal. Sometimes we find these responses overwhelming but knowing they are normal helps us to come to terms with the changes. It is […]
- March 4, 2008
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- Loss & Grief, Relationship & Families, Spirituality & Religion
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Series: Coping with the Death of a Loved One
Losing someone you love can be like losing one half of yourself. The pain and emptiness felt during the grieving process can go on for months or years, however no two people will ever respond to the same situation in the same way. Working through grief is a day by day, week by week process. […]
- March 3, 2008
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- Loss & Grief, Relationship & Families
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Coping Effectively with Change: Carla’s Case Study
Carla is a 37 year old woman who works as a manager in a large engineering firm. She is married with two children a boy aged 10 (Carlos) and girl aged 8 (Anna). Her husband Rodrigo is great with the kids and very devoted and loving to Carla but he has recently been laid off […]
- February 8, 2008
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- Lifespan Development, Relationship & Families, Stress Management
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Coping Effectively with Change: Leisha’s Case Study
Leisha is a 17 year old girl who has a young infant daughter Tippa aged 15 months. Her partner left the relationship before Leisha had the baby and hasn’t been seen or heard of since. Leisha lives at home with her parents. Initially Leisha was very scared about having a baby, and although she went […]
- February 6, 2008
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- Children & Adolescents, Lifespan Development, Personal Effectiveness, Wellness
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Effective Options to Cope with Change
Experience and the literature inform us that transitions or changes in life are inevitable and you can fight them, flee from them or preferably accept that you need to prepare for and adapt to the changes in some way. Having confidence in being able to plan for and adapt to change, by having skills and […]
- February 5, 2008
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- Lifespan Development, Personal Effectiveness, Stress Management, Wellness
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Ineffective Options to Cope with Change
It is a bit difficult to define ineffective options simply because it is easier to describe those situations where people have ineffective options to react to change. Nonetheless some ineffective options may include: Denying that a change is occurring; Not being aware of one’s environment – of change that is emerging over time; Not planning […]
- February 4, 2008
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- Lifespan Development, Personal Effectiveness, Stress Management, Wellness
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Change: Understanding Feelings and Emotions
Obviously there may be many different feelings and emotions that a person could experience depending on the situation or circumstances. One person may fear change whilst another may revel in it and enjoy the challenges. A child about to enter early adolescence may also have a sense of fear or anxiety about what changes to […]
- January 29, 2008
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- Clinical Mental Health, Lifespan Development, Stress Management
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Positive Aspects of Change
People often avoid change; opting for predictability and control, rather than the more stoic, flowing style of embracing life’s challenges. But life is a dynamic balance of negatives and positives, and focusing on the positive aspects of change can be the difference between growing under duress and thriving in any environment, or experiencing continuing stress […]
- January 24, 2008
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- Lifespan Development, Personal Effectiveness, Wellness
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Series: Coping with Transitions in Life
“It isn’t so much that hard times are coming; the change observed is mostly soft times going” ~ Groucho Marx (cited in The New International Websters Pocket Quotation Dictionary, 1997: 36) Transition is often seen as being synonymous with change. Transition as a term tends to have a more organic quality to it (as distinct […]
- January 22, 2008
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- Ageing Issues, Lifespan Development, Stress Management
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Parenting a Problem Adolescent: Resilience
Tunmore (cited in Regel & Roberts, 2002, 73) outlined various mental health promoting factors (based on evidence) that are relevant to adolescent kids and to parents alike to reflect upon. They include: Individual Self-esteem, sociability and autonomy Social support systems that encourage personal effort and coping Good communication skills A sense of humour Religious faith […]
- December 11, 2007
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- Children & Adolescents, Relationship & Families
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