Group School Counseling - Elementary - Gried - Book Report/Review Example

Hence, it can be deduced that the universality of these emotions make it possible for individual healing to take place via group settings. The article began by defining loss as a process of grief and the stages by which an individual reacts and copes with these stresses in reference to established psychological frameworks. Accordingly, these frameworks or models are utilized to identify the individual's coping mechanism so that a contextual therapeutic approach can be fashioned out from the experience.

This intervention is then conducted in various ways, either individually or in groups. The article cited Kubler-Ross' five stages of grief as a primary model in organizing interventions to address grief and loss issues. Though the article failed to fully enumerate and define these stages, it was able to touch-base on the primary observable behavior as experienced by the individual at a specific stage. Accordingly, the process entails feelings of denial at first which develops to displaced feeling of anger and depression and moves toward a point of acceptance and finally moving on.

With this general framework in mind, a general idea can also be abstracted from an individual's coping mechanism to be applied in a group setting. . These situations would range from grief due to loss or separation from a loved one, or grief due to accidents or traumatic physical experience, or even those who experienced grief due to behavioral or cognitive problems. These case studies, carried out and categorized according to the type of grief, provided important insights of healing in groups.

It can be surmised that the knowledge of the similarity of experience of an individual in relation to another individual makes the grieving process normal among those affected. This consequentially aided the healing among those in the group. Moreover, the article introduced the use of arts as a tool to facilitate the process of healing of the individual in a group setting. The literature placed more emphasis on the process by which an individual reacts to group art activities rather than the actual output of the art itself.

This process involves the individual to directly and indirectly tell a story of their grief to the group while simultaneously acknowledging these negative emotions which are then translated and expressed through arts. The arts then provided a platform for the awareness of their grief, which when confronted directly and openly would be more challenging and would yield an entirely different response. The activity conducted in the group setting then encouraged a sense of solidarity and belonging among the participants which helps them to actually feel better.

To prove how the incorporation of art as becoming a trend to healing, the authors recounted a nine-stage intervention among a group of behaviorally-problematic individuals who have had experienced a recent grief or loss. The stages of the intervention followed a developmental process beginning with the individual's acknowledgment of the grief and