Paper Example. What Happens in a Counseling Session?

Grief and loss are widespread in any school set up. Many students experience these emotions while in school, and so the school administration should have ways of dealing and handling these emotions among the students since they affect the students in various ways. Such emotions manifest in students differently, including performing very poorly in academic. Students mostly are either children or adolescents. Group counseling is a very effective method of advice in a school set up since it saves the class time for the students. The primary goal for the students is learning, and that is what keeps them in school; therefore, much time should be spent on learning. A school has much population probably, and thus if you decide to counsel one by one, it will take the counselor a lot of time; therefore, group counseling is the best method to go for. Professional counselors can conduct group counseling through creative interventions which involve engaging the students.

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Loss is associated with the death of the loved ones. Loss can cause behavioral, emotional, cognitive or even physical problems to the student who has experienced the loss. There are two types of loss; tangible and the intangible and both kinds of loss affect the student the same way. Loss can also be in the form of parent separation, divorce, relocation to the new home or school, illness of the loved ones, loss of a friendship with a valued person or pet or even separation with a romantic partner (Marino, Thornton, & Lange, 2015). Grieving can demoralize the student, but assisting the student heal will restore the overall health of that student. Grief work is purposed to help the student accept the loss, experience the pain associated with the loss, adapt with the new life and to find ways on how they will remember that they are special people in this life and they have a purpose.

Children do not grieve the same way. The adults need to understand this so that they are in a position to assist them. Schools must be prepared to handle crises of any magnitude; thus, a capable and professional school counselor is required. The problem with the counseling department is that the counselors lack administrative support; hence, they have very less time to provide actual counseling services. Another challenge present when the teachers are reluctant to allow the students out of class.

I have gained a lot of new knowledge concerning the art of therapy of grief and loss. Some of the knowledge that I have acquired include; there is a stage model of grief. This model is as follows; the shock is always the immediate reaction to the occurred event. The affected person may feel physical pain, numb, or may even withdraw. There is denial which happens when the affected person tries to act as if nothing has happened at all. Here the person refuses to accept that the beloved is no more. Depression occurs when the period of the painful feelings get prolonged, the despair and the emptiness (Marino et al., 2015). Guilt can also happen, and this occurs when the grieving person blames himself or herself for the loss that has just happened. Anxiety manifests itself in a panic attack, and it occurs when the reality that the beloved is gone forever finally sink. Aggression occurs and is directed against the person who the grieving person believes that he would have protected the lover from going or dying. Reintegration is the last thing and is when the grieving finally accepts the fact that the loss is a reality.

It is also new to me that there are tasks that form the mourning model. Four tasks compose the mourning model and must be completed so as the mourning is complete. These tasks include; you first accept the reality that is there - the reality of the loss at a both emotional and intellectual level. Nothing can be done without first taking this reality. The second task is to integrate the pain depending on the kind of pain that the affected person is going through and the type of relationship they had. The other thing is the task of training yourself to adapt to the world in the absence of the loved one. This adapting can either be spiritual, internal, or external (Marino et al., 2015). External involves daily living; internal adapting is redefining yourself internally while spiritual consists in coming up with a new worldview. The last task to complete the mourning model is to find something that will connect with the deceased, and it lasts. That should happen as the affected student is embarking on a new life. The mourning tasks encourages one to accept the loss, find a way to remain connected with the deceased, and then move on with life.

It is also new that when children suffer a significant loss, the best method to aid them to heal is through creative interventions. These creative interventions include; literary, visual, and performing arts interventions. They help in supporting the child, speed up the recovery process, make less the magnitude of the grief experienced, and also the adverse impacts of embarrassment. Such platforms offer an opportunity for the children to share what they are going through and thus learning to adapt to what they are experiencing.

Most of the things in the article I agree. It is quite right that emotions of loss and grief affect student performance in academics. Academics require a lot of mental engagement and thus, such feelings since they tamper with the mind, they undermine the student concentration in education. The result of this is poor performance in examinations. These emotions tamper with the normal working of the student, but if the child gets appropriately counseled, he or she will be able to restore the normal functioning (Marino et al., 2015). I also agree with the stage model of grief. Shock is always the reaction after one realizes a loss. I disagree with this article by arguing that the model of grief occurs in stages. The stages stated include; shock, denial, depression, guilt, and aggression. I believe that grief affects people differently. Depending on the type of grief that has come your way, some people will suffer from guilt, depression, aggression, and denial. Not all people who are going through grief suffer guilt, attack, or denial.

I also disagree with the article where it has stated that group counseling is the best and most effective way of helping children who are experiencing loss and grief. Children experiencing pain and loss should not be counseled together according to me since all these children are not undergoing similar types of loss. Someone who has just relocated from one school to another and that who has lost loved one is both experiencing a loss. It is not fair at all to counsel these two children the same. The one who has lost a loved one need to be advised differently from the one who has changed school, though both of them are experiencing a loss.

I agree with the article on the tasks of mourning model. The four tasks explained in the item must get fulfilled so that the mourning is complete. You accept the reality first, process the pain and grief, adapt to the new world, and then move on with the new life. Without all these, then mourning can never be complete.

One of the new things that I have learned from this article is that when children suffer a significant loss, the most effective way of helping them is by creative interventions. This new knowledge is going to help me, especially when I am dealing with the children experiencing significant losses. I will not handle them the same way I would have handled them before I read the article. I will help them come up with creative interventions which will assist them in recovering at a faster rate, lessen the magnitude of the grief and the adverse impacts of pain. I have also learned that people suffer differently from loss and grief. Some suffer from denial, some depression, guilt, or even aggression. This will help me acknowledge this fact first before I handle students experiencing loss and grief and therefore counsel them accordingly. I will advise every student according to the kind of loss or grief they are suffering. I have also learned the stages of mourning model. This will help me, especially when I am helping a student to mourn a specific loss, she or he has experienced. The student will have to go through the four stages so that I can say he or she has successfully finished mourning the loss of his loved one.

Reference

Marino, R. C., Thornton, M. D., & Lange, T. (2015). Professional school counselors address grief and loss: A creative group counseling intervention. VISTAS Online, Article, 66, 1-12.