Spiritual InterventionsIn Bereavement Support

Provides growth and new life

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)

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)

Case Study

• Ji Ji’s 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

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”

Assessment of Spiritual Needs

• Ji Ji’s 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

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

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

Interventions

• Spiritual conversations

• Holding cross given to Ji Ji

• Anointing with oil

• Prayer

• Sacraments

• Spiritual resources

• Provision of safe space

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)

Infinite Respect