Understanding grief as an adaptive response to loss can be extremely reassuring for young people as it places their individual experience in a larger context. Unusual sensations that accompany grief can be frightening and worrying for young people and information that explains and describes common aspects of grieving can be useful. Knowing that the intensity of grief does generally lessen over time can be extremely important information for young people who are worried that they will ‘feel this way forever’.
- Practitioners help young people understand that grief is a natural and ‘normal’ response to loss by:
- Taking the opportunity when appropriate to discuss common responses to grief
- Ensuring people in the young person’s natural network also understand
- Having appropriate written information available
- Advising on internet resources and sites that may be useful
C3vii. Emotion focused coping and self-care
This practice element outlines CBT strategies for self-care including ideas for strategies when ‘emotional overload’ is present.Strategies here encourage aspects of emotional and physical self-care.
This practice also asserts the relevance of ‘Health education’ strategies and can be adapted to include grief knowledge and information.
