Death, Dying and Grief: The Last Psychic Barrier

The answer was to develop an educational approach to death and dying, an approach that would de-mystify the issues, one where the taboos, as well as the rituals and practices could be discussed openly. This would then help the adolescent gain control early, often prior to a death experience, thereby allowing the adolescent some control over his environment which he would need when coping with the dying and mourning process. Today, the subject of death and dying has become a popular one, but why? What reasons are there now for focusing on the process of dying and the mourning reaction that follows? Death is not a new process; people have always died, they will continue to die. Therefore, what is so important to understand? It's a simple fact of life—a universal given! What is important to understand is how people react to this given. Yes, people will always die. But the death process and the client's psychological adjustment to that process as well as the family's coping mechanisms are what's important to under stand. Often families are unable to cope with a fatal illness of a family member and turn to therapy as a means of helping them gain a new homeostasis. An illustration: Amy, age 20, recently called requesting counseling. She stated, "I want counseling for myself and my brothers and sisters. My sister, who is 18, has terminal cancer and the whole family is falling apart. I can't cope with what is happening to Jamie and the effect her illness is having on me. My brothers and sisters feel the same way. Can you help us?" "Mourn " and "die " are both active verbs indicating "doing " processes. It is our * Response Center, a project of the Jewis