Las Colinas Psychological Services
  • Home
  • About
    • FAQ
    • Dr. Novinski
    • Animal Assisted Therapy
  • Services
    • Psychotherapy >
      • EMDR
    • Telehealth Service Area
    • Consultation
  • Clients
    • New Clients
    • Client Portal
    • Directions
    • Resources
    • Telehealth Updates
  • Blog
  • Contact

Grief will not fit in a box: Challenging the 5-stage model

6/5/2015

 
Picture
Source: Bethan/Flickr
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's groundbreaking work with terminally ill patients asked important questions about the lived-experience of those who are coping with dying. From this work was born the 5-stage model of coping with dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. This research, published in Kubler-Ross's 1969 book On Death and Dying, was intended as a description of patients' experiences of coping with dying. Eventually, however, this theory was taken up by professionals and the public as a prescription for how people cope with the death of another, that is, as a model of the grieving process. Even today, some health professionals, mental health professionals, chaplains, and other well-meaning folk, often explain to those who are grieving that these are the 5 stages they should expect to go through and the order in which they should go through them. Some even become frustrated with someone who is grieving for “doing it wrong.”

The truth is that as human beings we grieve as uniquely as we love. Any one of us may experience one of the “stages” that Kubler-Ross described, but perhaps not all, and certainly not in a neatly prescribed order. You may be aware of your own grieving experiences in which other thoughts or feelings (such as feeling numb or cut off from the world around you) are more prominent, at least for a time. There is no one way to grieve a loss, just as there is no one way to build relationships and memories. 

A recent article by Tessie Mastorakos featured on Psychology Today speaks to the unique experiences of parents who are coping with the loss of a child, and helps to challenge the old stage model with emerging research. Click here to read the full text of Mastorakos's article.

Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Picture

    About the Author

    Hello! I am clinical psychologist, Dr. Kristy Novinski. Here I record insights, book and film reviews, discussions of pop culture, and exploration of news and research in the field of psychology.

    What I'm Reading:

    Picture
    ​

    Categories

    All
    Anxiety
    Apps
    Assessment
    Blame
    Books
    Bookshelf
    Children
    COVID-19
    Depression
    Digital Health
    Election
    Emotional Health
    Epigenetic
    Exercise
    Family
    Film
    Grief & Loss
    Holidays
    Humor
    Insurance
    Journaling
    Kintsugi
    Meaning
    Medications
    Mental Health Awareness
    Movement
    Neuroplasticity
    Neuropsychiatry
    Nutrition & Mental Health
    Parenting
    Polyvagal Theory
    Psychotherapy
    Research
    Resilience
    Resources
    Sleep
    Social Media
    Stress
    Suicide Prevention
    TBI
    Trauma
    Video
    Vulnerability
    Weather

Las Colinas Psychological Services, PLLC

580 Decker Drive
​Suite 260
Irving, Texas 75062
Phone/Fax: 214.310.0346
[email protected]
© 2025 Las Colinas Psychological Services, PLLC. All rights reserved.
Photos from Elsie esq., NathalieSt
  • Home
  • About
    • FAQ
    • Dr. Novinski
    • Animal Assisted Therapy
  • Services
    • Psychotherapy >
      • EMDR
    • Telehealth Service Area
    • Consultation
  • Clients
    • New Clients
    • Client Portal
    • Directions
    • Resources
    • Telehealth Updates
  • Blog
  • Contact