Purdue University Loss History Personal Awareness Discussion

Each of us develops our own unique style of coping with grief and loss. Understanding your attitudes, values, reactions and any remaining grief issues or unfinished business will be an important part of the work that you will do with students, clients, staff and community members experiencing grief. The goal of this assignment is for you to describe how your own experiences and style of dealing with loss may influence your interactions with clients. In the paper articulate the circumstances of the losses, the effect and impact of the losses on your life. Articulate any lessons learned from those experiences and how or to what extent you have recovered from those losses. You may also find it useful to look at the ways in which your family has responded to past losses and deaths. Some students begin by describing their earliest moments of death and how it affected them. Try to focus on personal and not theoretical understanding. Remember, losses may be tangible (loss of a loved one) or symbolic (a psychosocial loss: divorce, end of a relationship, loss of a job, home, health or independence, etc.) The paper should be 7-8 pages in length (excluding title and reference page). Listed below are some guiding questions that will help you organize the paper.