[Client Name]
Literature review3
Goals and objectives for the group6
Type of group6
Evaluating success.7
Activities.8
Conclusion10
Introduction
Grief is the emotional process an individual goes throughout after the loss of a loved one. Mothers go through an unbearable amount of emotions after losing a child. Considered to be one of the most traumatic experiences an individual can endure, losing a child can have a detrimental impact on a mother. These individuals generally do not consider treatment during the midst of their grief. Most individuals believe their grief is normal under their circumstances. However, the longer the grief lasts the more likely the individual will suffer from severe complications from the prolonged grief. The following discusses the benefits of group intervention when it comes to grief and proposes a group intervention plan for grieving mothers.
Discussion
There are several theories and models when it comes to how one deals with grief. The most well-known model of grieving is the five stages of grief developed by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. This model suggests that an individual goes through five different stages when dealing with the loss of a loved one. These stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Though this model is widely used when dealing with grief, there is little empirical support to support these stages. The following consists of literature findings on different intervention programs and their success on grieving individuals.
Literature review
Grief
Savolanien (2013) was aimed to describe factors that could help parents grieve over the loss of their child. The research sample focused on 143 mothers and 102 fathers whose children died under the age of three. “The factors that help the coping of parents with a child’s death included preparing to the death and experiencing the child’s life and death” (p. 222). Also, receiving and giving support was an important factor when it came to grieving over the loss of a child. The results of this study can provide framework for counselors while dealing with grieving parents.
Grief interventions
In Raitio (2015) researchers aimed to study the effect of parental grief interventions and their impact on maternal grief. The sample consisted of 136 mothers who had lost one or more of their children. The control group consisted of mothers who lost their children in non-traumatic ways (cancer, disease, etc.), whereas the experimental group consisted of mothers who lost their children in traumatic ways (car accident, drug overdose, etc.). Data was collected by using questionnaires. The results of this study showed that there were no differences in grief reactions between the control and experimental groups in this study. “The mothers’ age, self-perceived health status and the age of decease child were associated with the grief reaction” (p. 510). Thus, this study concentrates mainly on the importance of social support to mothers who experienceed the death of their child. Through this support, mothers’ grief can be relieved if this bereavement support takes the professionally form and peer-led support. Ideally, this should be a one-to-one or a group support.
Group interventions
In Johnson & Langford (2015), researchers examined the effect of group interventions on women who experienced a miscarriage. The experiment was a control group design consisting of 40 women who experienced a miscarriage during either their first or second trimester. Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or the control group. The experimental group were placed in a group intervention setting, whereas the control group maintained their individual counseling. This study suggests that a group setting for grieving women who suffer miscarriages are better than the individual setting. This study also looked at the differences that time has on the grieving process (p. 492). The findings of this study suggest that the individuals who participated in the group intervention setting displayed significantly lower levels of despair after two weeks in the intervention group.
“Studies report the importance of the supplemental support system such groups provide, and the critical necessity for the normalizing discussion about reactions and difficulties that take place in group sessions” (Underwood, 2004, p. 289). In individual sessions, the process of assessment could create risks which accompany the loss the individual is grieving. In other words, group sessions provide the grieving individual with the proper amount of support these individuals need. Group interventions are necessary for grieving individuals because they help to eliminate the sense of isolation due to trauma that accompanies grief of any kind. These studies indicate that the support system is most important in paerticualr during group interventions since it aids in overcomeing the difficulties and reactions that are common during different stages of grief (p. 289).
Goals and objectives for the group
The goals for the intervention group is:
helping the mothers with the loss of their child;
helping individuals in need manage their grief successfully.
Thus, the objectives for the group would include:
increase of the understanding of grief,
correcting of irrational thinking due to the loss or grief
managinbg the feelings associated with the grief or loss.
Group conversations allow an individual to hear how others interpret and deal with loss. The group setting also allows an individual to discuss and identify issues of their grief. By listening to other people’s issues, an individual may be more inclined to identify the issues in their own life. For example, one mother may discuss her inability to go into her child’s room and what she did in order to conquer her inability. Another mother may be able to relate to this and use the other mother’s experiences as advice on how to concur her own issues. By placing grieving individuals in a group setting, these individuals are able to talk and use each other for support systems. Thus, the overall goal of the group intervention is to help these individuals manage their grief with the social support from other grieving individuals.
Type of group
The intervention will be aimed for grieving mothers who have lost their children. Grief differs when it comes to age and gender. Children do not grieve the same as adults. Thus, combining participants of different ages would decrease the effectiveness of the intervention (Kubler-Ross, & Kessler, 2005). Also, males grieve differently than females, and thus, it is important to keep group interventions gender specific under certain circumstances. Since mothers tend to have different bonds with their children than fathers do, it is best for group interventions to be gender specific in order for the intervention to be the most successful (Hutti, 1988).
This research also suggested that the age of the child was a factor that contributed to the success of a group, rather than a one-to-one intervention. In other words, the importance of the participant’s child age at the time of death was evaluated. For example, a mother who lost a two-year-old child expresses her direct grief differently than another mother who lost her 16-year-old child. If the focus on the age of the child narrows at the time of death, the intervention is more succcessful. For this particular program, researchers focused on mothers grieving over their child under the age of three.
The group size is as important since it should stay preferably small. Twelve participants is maximum allowed for a one-to-one intervention, however, during group interventions effectiveness has been achived with up to twenty individuals in the same group. There should be enough individuals where group conversation can be meaningful but not large enough were individuals are not given the opportunity to speak. A group intervention program should be small enough where all individuals are given proper time to participate in the conversation if they feel comfortable.
Evaluating success
Success of the intervention program will be evaluated by the use of group evaluation forms. Sample forms are going to be distributed at the end of the program. Members will be asked to fill out the evaluation form and answer the following questions:
What is your overall feeling related to your group experience? Circle one.
Major Some Not sure
How do you rate the program design? Circle one.
Good Bad Average Impossible to rate
Did this program positively impact your grief level? Circle one.
Yes No
Did the program satisfy your expectations and needs? Circle one.
Yes No
Would you be interested in participating in similar programs in your area?
Yes No
Activities
The intervention should start with two different sessions and each session should consist of a different activity. All participants of the group intervention should be facing one another. All the participants should also be encouraged to state their name and reason why they are there. Members should also be encouraged to state what type of loss they are currently dealing with and how their loss has affected their life. Members should also be encouraged to share their hopes in regards to the grief intervention.
One activity tailored directly for the participants deals with direct expression of fears. In this activity, members are asked to think of the importance of talking about and discussing their fears. Each member of the group will be encouraged to write their biggest fears on one post-it note and mix it with their peers answers. Then, the members of the group are to pick out one post-it note from the hat. Each member will read out another member’s fear to the rest of the group. Afterwards, they will analyze why another person has this or that fear. This activity is a way for members to analyze their fear. These individuals are offering nonbiased interpretations of their fears. At the end of the session, members should stand and face one another again. All members should take turns stating one word that describes their emotions they are currently feeling. This is a good way of ending any intervention session. It allows an individual to reflect on the session by analyzing their current emotions.
The second session should build on the member’s knowledge when it comes to the stages of loss. The second session should also encourage self-reflection and understanding. Activity in writing is especially beneficial to group members when it comes to expressing their emotions. Members can also be asked to write about their emotions in simple sentences. This can be a story, a poem, etc. Afterwards, members of the group will be asked to share their personal findings, on voluntary basis. Not only does this allow an individual to express their emotions in regard to grief, but they are also allowed to hear other individuals emotions regarding the subject as well. This can help an individual with the internalization process that comes along with grieving. This type of group exercise can also help gain group strength. Though this exercise, members of the group will become more comfortable with one another. As a result, the members of the group intervention will be more likely to share in group conversation. Some members may even discover they have a specific bond with another member which could lead to a more powerful support system. Thus, getting members to express their emotions regarding their grief can have more than one benefit for the individual (Hutti, 1988).
The overall goal of these activities is to get the members to feel more comfortable talking about their emotions. Talking about ones emotions is not only important for that individual, it is also important for the rest of the members of the group. It allows the other members to hear how others process different emotions regarding grief. For example, the more comfortable one member feels, the more likely she will share the story about how she lost her son. The women may go into detail about the pain they dealt with, as well as the emotional train it sent her life on. She also discusses the steps she took in order to regain control of her own life. Expressing her situation helps her process and internalize her situation. It also connects to mothers in the room and their understanding of what could happen if one does not properly grieve over their child. Group interventions are the best intervention programs when it comes to grieving mothers.
Other sessions should continue working on group building skills. For example, having group members state another members name and a fact that they remember about that individual may help a group become more cohesive. These group members should feel comfortable around each other. This will help them share their emotions and personal feelings. This could also increase the likelihood of these individuals creating friendships and other bounds that result in support systems. Group intervention programs are successful because of the support they offer an individual. Thus, increasing communication within a group setting is crucial when it comes to the success of a group intervention program (Hutti et al., 2015, p. 42).
Conclusion
Previous research has suggested the use of group intervention can result in success for grieving individuals. This study aims at finding successful techniques and activities for a grief group intervention. Previous research has suggested that group intervention programs offer the grieving individual the most support over other types of intervention programs. Previous research also suggested that the characteristics of the participants also have an influence on how successful the group intervention is. The main thing that should be focused on is group cohesiveness. Individuals need to feel comfortable and part of the group in order to get the most out of the group setting.
References
Hutti, M., Armstrong, D. & Myers, S. (2015). Grief intensity, psychological well-being , and intimate partner relationship in the subsequent pregnancy after a perinatal loss. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing.
Hutti, M. (1988). Perinatal loss: Assisting parents to cope. Emergency Medical Services, 14(6), 338.
Johnson, P. & Langford, R. (2015). A randomized trial of a bereavement intervention for pregnancy loss. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 44(4), 492-499.
Kubler-Ross, E. & Kessler, D. (2005). On Grief and Grieving. New York, NY: Scribner.
Raitio, K., Kaurnonen, M. & Aho, A. (2015). Evaluating a bereavement follow-up intervention for grieving mothers after the death of a child. Journal of Caring Sciences, 29(3), 510 520.
Savolainen, S. (2013). The factors that help the coping of parents with a child’s death. Medscape, 25(3), 222-235.
Underwood, M. (2004). Group interventions for treatment of psychological trauma. Group Interventions for Treatment of Psychological Trauma, p. 287-305.
Waller, A., Turnon, HJ. & Mansfield, E. (2016). Assisting the bereaved: A systematic review of the evidence for grief counselling. Palliative Medicine, 30(2), 132-148.
