5 stages of grief

Michael Brown writes on Understanding and Responding to Grief through The Gottman
Institute. A major topic discussed was how during the COVID-19 Pandemic, many people had to
grieve their loved ones without ever getting the chance to say goodbye. Additionally, Brown
emphasized the thousands of individuals who sadly and unacceptably lost their lives, in
isolation.
Such grief leaves many with heavy hearts. Further, grief was defined as something that
is ongoing and can escalate and is not something that magically dissipates after experiencing it
for some time. In grieving a loved one, there are stages, tasks, phases, processes, and even
dimensions within grieving.
Additionally, Brown explains that the five stages of grief include denial, anger,
bargaining, depression, and acceptance. In 1969 it was Elisabeth Kubler-Ross who founded the
idea of these five stages of grief. I emphasize the last stage of acceptance as being one in which
people come to a state of understanding that they have lost their loved one and learn to live
with the unfortunate situation.
In children, grief can look a lot different. Wolfelt explained that children may lack certain
emotions during grief, such as shock, denial, or sadness. However, this does not mean they
never feel those emotions, rather it is still possible but might be less likely than adults
processing grief.
The author concluded his article by sharing suggestions to help best support individuals
who are grieving. Brown shared that being there for them and helping to hear the pain of their
grieving can be helpful. Listening to them and validating their emotions are very important, as
well.