Spiritual Interventions In Bereavement Support

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Spiritual InterventionsIn Bereavement Support

• Provides growth and new life

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Grief

• The majority of people find their own way through
  their loss without the help of professional
  counsellors
• Some people will suffer serious physical and
  mental health issues if not provided with
  professional support (Parkes, 2001)
• Working through grief can provide opportunities
  for personal growth and strengthened religious
  beliefs (Calhoun Tedeschi, 1990)

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Attachment Separation

• The genesis of grief lies in the inevitability of
  both attachment and separation for the sustenance
  and development of human life (Mitchell
  Anderson, 1983)
• The despair that emerges in the grief process
  stems from the knowledge that the relationship is
  not able to be restored
• (Weiss, 2001)

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Case Study

• Ji Jis husband diagnosed with cancer 2004 at the
  age of 53
• 4 year period of surgery chemotherapy
• Ji Ji was the primary carer
• Husband died in hospital 2008
• 2 visits to provide supportive care to Ji Ji in
  her home

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Spiritual History

• Ji Ji was a lapsed Catholic with no connection to
  the institutional church
• She had no hope or certainty that her husband
  would have a resurrected life and be at peace
  with God
• The death of her husband challenged her strongly
  held belief that they would grow old together and
  this took away her innocence

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Assessment of Spiritual Needs

• Ji Jis spiritual religious beliefs were
  reactivated early in the bereavement phase
• Very spiritual person who found God present in
  nature and in sacred places
• Needed support in her quest for meaning
• Spiritual journey of great importance

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Formal Support Systems

• Formal grief counselling provided for a short
  period of time
• Regular support from GP providing medication for
  anxiety
• Further counselling for extended period of time
• Recommendation referral to a Psychiatrist

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Informal Support Systems

• 8 week closed bereavement support group
• Followed by a monthly open support group
• Ongoing support from a bereavement volunteer
• Individual supportive care comprising a spiritual
  component

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Interventions

• Spiritual conversations
• Holding cross given to Ji Ji
• Anointing with oil
• Prayer
• Sacraments
• Spiritual resources
• Provision of safe space

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Spirituality and religious coping

• Brokenness and togetherness are both part of the
  human condition
• Togetherness helps us to feel and believe that we
  belong
• The model of companioning goes beyond the medical
  model of bereavement treatment and can promote
  meaning-making (Wolfelt, 1998)
• Spiritual care is about being present so as to
  allow spiritual questions to be addressed and
  healing to take place (Harrington, 1995)

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Infinite Respect
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