ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the reader to the topic of grief and bereavement work, with the recognition that bereavement can sometimes be a source of mental health difficulties and that people experiencing mental health problems will experience bereavement too. It explores models of grief and bereavement, beginning with earlier approaches arising from Sigmund Freud’s writing on melancholia, and moving on to cover attachment and moves toward the idea of continuing bonds and ‘remembering’. M. S. Stroebe and H. Schut model proposes that the bereaved tend to cope with stressors by oscillating between two types of coping processes those they describe as ‘loss-orientation’ and ‘restoration-orientation’. Loss-orientation refers to how the bereaved cope with issues that are directly related to the loss and restoration-orientation refers to coping with issues related to the secondary changes brought about by the loss, and adapting to them. Stroebe and Schut consider that loss-oriented coping behaviours can help people to process their emotions.
