This week Ted Mathis, LPC as he shares some thoughts on how we continue to walk through this difficult season through the lens of the steps of grief.
Questions for personal reflection or (preferably) discussion with someone else...
•Ted frames what we’re going through with this pandemic through the lens of the stages of grief described by Elisabeth Kubler: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. When have you walked through these stages in your life in the past? Did you find that process to be linear (step by step) or did you bounce around the different stages multiple times?
•We’re all experiencing the losses of Covid-19 in different ways. In our communities (in the USA) some have lost work, graduations, vacations, physical contact, personal freedoms, the ability to celebrate graduations and weddings, and many have lost loved ones and friends. What have been the most difficult losses you’ve experienced so far?
•What are you angry about right now with regards to this pandemic? What is that anger pointing to inside of you that is really important that you may have lost or be scared of loosing and may be unconsciously grieving?
•Depression is a stage of grief, but also something that many of us struggle with on a regular basis that is being activated again right now in the uncertainty of the pandemic. If you are depressed, and especially if you are experiencing thoughts of suicide please reach out for help to someone at the Refuge or call 1-800-273-8255.
•If you’ve struggled with depression in the past, what are some things that have helped you find glimmers of hope in the darkness? For me (Jo), it is connecting with a friend who feels safe or taking time to experience nature with my senses (feeling the sunshine on my face, the grass under my feet, etc.).
•If you are currently depressed could it be connected to grief you might be feeling about our situation right now? What are ways that you could honor and mourn that grief?
•Ted talks about adaptation and gratitude being marks of the stage of acceptance. What ways have you or your household found to creatively adapt to this new way of living? Have you had any moments of gratitude that have surprised you?
•Ted talks about how writing things out brings online resources that are more powerful than simply speaking about things because it accesses a different part of our brains. Take some time this week to write about your grief in this season.
