Cognitive Strategies in Grief Counseling

Cognitive Strategies in Grief Counseling To make sense of a loss, the loss experience must be assimilated into an

already existing belief system. These cognitive schemas incorporate any spiritual beliefs valued by the individual. Holding on to cognitive rules that help make sense out of life is important in developing coping strategies. In response to a loss involving death, a belief in an afterlife is one of the most common religious-based assimilation strategies employed by the bereaved (Marrone, 1999). Other spiritual coping strategies include the concept of eventual reunion with the deceased and the belief that the loss served some spiritual purpose, such as inspiring people to do good works or to form closer relationships.