ABSTRACT
Therapists might find themselves describing the grief reactions as diagnosable mental disorders, in order to have an insurance company pay for treatment. Doing so implies that intense grief is a "condition" as opposed to the reality that it is a normal response. Mental health professionals who are human immune deficiency virus-positive have additional issues to deal with that might include: Concerns about their continuing ability to work, confronting their own death, complicated grieving around their own personal losses and those of the clients, Whether or not to share their serostatus with colleagues and/or clients. Growing self-awareness and understanding of one's attitudes is an ongoing task especially for mental health professionals. Many mourners of multiple losses describe themselves as experiencing numbness or lack of feeling that becomes worse with each death. A mental health professional fulfills many roles as the needs of survivors change throughout the grief process.
