ABSTRACT
Empathetic responsiveness requires the ability to go beyond the surface and to become involved in the mourner's feeling world, but always with the as if quality of taking another's role without personally experiencing what the other person experiences. Warmth and caring in the helper is demonstrated through a sense of personal closeness to the mourner as opposed to professional distance. In the context of helping the mourner, respect refers to a nonpossessive caring for and affirmation of the person as a separate individual capable of reaching reconciliation in his or her grief. Caregivers who continually work to develop an understanding of their own experiences with loss are more likely to be effective helpers to the bereaved. Congruence in working with bereaved person means the caregiver models those beliefs about mourning that he or she embraces as being important to the bereaved. Knowledge means that caregivers are aware of the body of knowledge available related to the experience of mourning.
