Psych of Grief: Current Under & Interven

Catalog description

This course examines the experience of individuals and families in the face of death and loss. The course will focus on the nature and causes of grief as well as strategies for effective counseling interventions. There will be an emphasis on loss due to death however, other types of psychosocial and physical losses will also be considered. Accordingly, we will explore a variety of factors that facilitate or impede the grief process. The course will initially trace the development of dominant models of grief and their historical and theoretical underpinnings. Considerable emphasis will be on examining the grief process as it is played out in the context of family. The family is seen as an interactive system, with a complex mix of actions, perceptions and expectations that influences the experience of grief among family members. This course will also consider a postmodern view of bereavement as a complex phenomenon embedded in a unique context involving social, cultural, philosophical and psychological factors. The second half of the course will have a distinct practitioner emphasis by connecting theoretical understandings to practicial applications and interventions. Senior standing required.