http://positivetranceformations.com.au/blog/the-five-stages-of-grief-2/ According to Dr Kübler-Ross, there are five well-defined stages in the grief process, all of which are important parts of the way that we react to the inevitable loss that life brings. If we are unable to express grief during any stage of the process, the grief can become blocked or bottled up, and will need to be released later.

1. Stages Of Grief

2. In this world, grief and loss are
inevitable. This is an unfortunate
truth and is part of being only
human and a mere mortal.

3. It doesn’t matter how positive an
outlook you have on life – bad
things will happen to good
people, and when these things
happen, we need to let ourselves
go through the grief process.

4. It often helps to know that there is a
known process involved in coping
with loss and grief. You know that
you’re not alone and that you are
normal.

5. This helps you permit yourself to
grieve. And it is important to go
through the process.

6. If you block yourself off and don’t let
yourself walk the journey, this can
cause problems further down the
track – we deal with a number of
people using hypnotherapy who
have bottled up grief from an old
loss and have never fully released
it.

7. The process of grief was first
investigated formally in the 1960s
by Dr Elizabeth Kübler-Ross.

8. Of course, the grief process had
been informally explored by writers
throughout history, who had turned
their feelings into art.

9. Some of the more striking examples
of these works are “In Memoriam”
by Tennyson (written after a close
friend was drowned in a shipwreck)
and “A Grief Observed” by CS
Lewis (of Narnia fame), which was
written after the death of his wife
from cancer.

10. Dr Kübler-Ross looked at the
process of grief in the context of
death and dying. In fact, the book in
which she outlined the process was
called “On Death and Dying.”

11. She was mostly interested in people
who were suffering from terminal
illnesses as well as their family
members.

12. However, the process is similar no
matter why you have to go through
the process.

13. People have similar reactions
when faced with the other
tragedies of life:

14. divorce, redundancy, losing a home
through fire or some other natural
disaster, being diagnosed with a
long-term medical condition that
won’t go away, and even some
seemingly happy and successful
events, like having a child growing
up and moving out of the family
home.

15. All of the five stages are necessary
parts of the process.

16. In the case of severe loss, such as
death or divorce, the process can
become a cycle, repeating over and
over, although it becomes less
severe over time.

17. If you do not give yourself
permission to go through all the
stages, or if circumstances prevent
you from going through them
properly, some of the grief may be
blocked and bottled up.

18. For example, people going through
a natural disaster may feel that they
have to stay strong and calm so
they can help other people cope, or
so they can help with the rescue
effort.

19. This reaction is admirable and, in
many ways, helpful for others, but
the grief will still need to be
released – we’ve seen a lot of
people come for help from hypnosis
who have been through this.

20. Hypnotherapy can help you get
over grief.
More information at:
positivetranceformations.com.au