F. S Counseling Lessons 6-7 & Counseling 6

Death Anxiety

A learned emotional response to death-related phenomenon which is characterized by extreme apprehension

What does performing a Loss Analysis consist of?

1. Creating a timeline of losses that you have experienced

2. Examining each loss

3. Reviewing these details

What are 3 ways that death care professionals can be directly affected by experiencing grief in others?

1. Having to handle a loss similar to one they have personally experienced

2. Handling a horrendous death

3. Having a personal relationship with the deceased

Similar

Experiencing a _______loss that you were able to work through successfully before helping a client may provide insight and useful information you can apply to assisting them through their time of sorrow

If a client has just lost their father, and you fear losing your father more than anyone else, what might you have a hard time doing as a funeral director?

I can interfere with our ability to assist them and be a painful reminder of your own loss

The unavoidability of death

What are we made aware of each and every time we (as death professionals) help a client?

What details about a decedent whose family we are helping can heighten our own anxiousness about death?

If the person who passed away is close to us in age, profession, appearance, sex, etc.

What can completing your own Loss Analysis provide to you as a death professional?

It can create self-awareness of the losses you have undergone

Bringing apprehensions about specific deaths to light and working through them can do what for funeral professional?

Can arm you with more sensitivity and awareness when helping other during their time of loss

The inevitability of our end

As death professionals, we have to accept the reality of what in order to stay comfortable and help the survivors of those who have passed away?

Stress

The mental and physical condition that occurs when a person must adjust or adapt to the environment

Burnout

A work-related condition of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion

Depression

A state of despondency marked by feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness

What are 4 physical symptoms of stress and burnout?

• Insomnia

• Headache

• Stomachaches

• Lower Immunity

What are 3 signs that one is irritable and impatient due to stress and burnout?

• Unjustly reacting strongly to situations

• Experiencing anger

• Feeling agitated

What is acute stress/ burnout?

A bad, difficult, or unwelcome situation that is experienced to a severe or intense degree (sudden onset/ intense and severe)

What is chronic stress? burnout?

Something persisting for a long time (constantly reoccurring/ long-lasting and difficult to end/ slow to heal)

Stressor

Any event capable of producing physical or emotional stress

Guilt

Blame directed towards oneself (ex. blame, shame, powerlessness)

Anger

Strong feeling of displeasure

Fear

Strong emotion marked by such reactions as alarm, dread, or disquiet

Homicide

The killing of one human being by another

Suicide

The deliberate act of killing oneself

What are 9 factors of mourning?

1. Relationship

2. Nature of attachment

3. Historical antecedents

4. Personality variables

5. Social variables

6. Concurrent stressors

7. Circumstantial factors

8. Mode of death

9. Existence and/ or condition of remains

Why is it difficult for survivors of a loss to process their grief if there is no body or remains for them to view?

Friends and family are not able to visually and physically confirm (touching and viewing) the deceased

What are some modes of different manners of death that can affect how those who are mourning process their grief?

• Natural

• Accidental

• Suicide

• Homicide

• Mass tragedy/ disaster

• Euthanasia