Counselling in Loss

Counselling in Loss Course Outlines

Module Purpose:
The purpose of this module is to provide the student with specialised knowledge and skill for counselling people in grief and loss. Through the study of this module, students learn to identify and work with the stages and processes associated with grief and loss and to consider the impact that cultural influences can have upon their interaction with clients dealing with grief and loss.

Module Content:
Students undertaking this module are provided with the necessary knowledge and skills for counselling people experiencing the effects of grief and loss. An understanding of the grief process and the influence of culture are considered together with the students personal history and experience of grief and loss. Through study and self-reflection, students acquire strategies and skills to work confidently and appropriately with clients as they move through the grieving and loss process. The following topics are covered in this module:

• Concepts of loss and grief: personal history of loss and its universality, stages of grieving, mourning; rites and rituals and cultural differences
• Key issues in bereavement counselling: modes of death, attitudes to death and dying, role of cultural issues, death anxiety, loss and grief reactions, counselling children, adolescents and families regarding loss of a child
• Role of counsellor in dealing with loss: contexts for counselling, goals of counselling in loss, client recognition of stages of grieving, helping clients cope; strategies, special skills and attributes of counsellor in loss, counsellor recognition of own issues and separation from clients
• Strategies for bereavement counselling: identifying client’s stage of grieving, strategies related to particular stages of grief and mourning through the grief cycle, specific strategies for client’s coping with loss of children, specific strategies for children dealing with loss
• Key skills of counselling in loss: calmness, compassion, empathy in active listening limits and capacity to assist clients, options and strategies for dealing with extreme loss, assisting clients cope with grief and consider future goals, assisting clients to formulate action plans and monitor achievements, handling difficult clients in loss managing own stress and possible personal issues, seeking supervision and debriefing for loss cases

Outcomes:

the student will be able to:

1. Use the terminology and concepts for counselling in loss
2. Identify the key issues in bereavement counselling
3. Identify the role of the counsellor in dealing with loss
4. Identify strategies for bereavement counselling
5. Demonstrate the key skills of counselling in loss