COUN 5340:

Loss & Grief Counseling

Fall 2006

Instructor: Sample .                                                                         Classroom:         

Phone:                                                                                             Meets:  

E-mail:                                                                                      Office Hours:

Course Description:

An in-depth study of loss and its aftermath, grief. Emphasis is given to the counseling literature, loss and grief in the arts, personal loss experience and particular counseling interventions.

Course Objectives:                  

1. To de-pathologize and normalize the human phenomenon of loss.

1. To foster awareness of the emerging clinician’s own personal loss history and patterns relative to coping.

1. To familiarize the student with theories from a variety of bodies of care-giving knowledge dealing with loss.

1. To provide an understanding of the cyclical nature of loss and thus the clinical issues created in a linear society.

1. To expand the clinician’s definition of loss.

1. To establish a foundation for developing specific skills for clinical interventions in attending loss.

1. To invite the power of the student’s own creativity in identifying and healing from loss.

Loss is a universal human experience. However, it is recognized and addressed in culture and gender-specific ways. Furthermore loss is one, if not the one, issue (experience) common to all counseling scenarios whether or not it is identified and addressed.

Methods of Instruction:

Lecture, popular cinema, professional DVD demonstration, and small group activities.

Required Texts:                                   

Required readings, such as journal articles, will either be provided as handouts or posted on TRACS.

Recommended Texts:   Worden, J.W. (2002). Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner. New York: Springer

Numerous books and other materials will be recommended throughout the course. The student is encouraged to build a reading list for future reference.

Course Requirements:

Attendance:

The importance of attendance and active participation by everyone is always important in a graduate class, yet here and for this subject matter the importance is underscored since continuity is one of the ways safety is established and trust can grow. While this is not a therapy group it is important that members of the class feel safe among the collective relative due to the highly charged and necessarily personal material being discussed. Two (2) absences will result in the lowering of a letter grade and three (3) will constitute an automatic “F” for the course. If you have a cell phone or any other type of annoying device with you, please disarm it before entering the classroom.

It is not recommended that anyone take this course while dealing with an acute and painful personal loss experience.

Recommendations:

(1) Take very careful notes. Lectures may be recorded, but not experiential portions.

(2) Keep a journal.

3) Stay very well hydrated.

Assignments:

The professor will provide specifications and instructions relative to these assignments.

(1) Personal Loss Line

(2) Critical Analysis Papers

(3) Personal Loss Box

(4) Designing and Participating in Loss Ritual

Grading:

Standard Ten-Point Grading Scale Applied

(1) Attendance and Participation (no absences)                            50 points

(2) Personal Loss Line                                                                          50 points

(3) Two Critical Analysis Papers                                                      50 points

(4) Personal Loss Box                                                                           50 points

(5) Designing and Participating in Ritual                                          50 points __________________________________________________________

                                                                                                                250 points                                                                              

Tentative Calendar:

Aug 24                    Introduction

                                Clinical Definition of Loss

                                Classifications of Loss

       31                      Linearity vs. Circularity       

Sept 07                    Ordinary People  

                    Loss Line Due

       14                      Chaos Theory and Loss

                                Critical Analysis Paper I Due

       21                      My Life                   

       28                      Critical Analysis Paper II Due

The Symbolic Life & Loss  

Oct 05                      Control and the Function of Guilt

                                Chicken Little

      12                       Rituals (theoretical)

      19                       Funeralization         

      21                       The New Orleans Jazz Funeral

                    The United States Military Funeral

Nov 02                    Sociodramatic Loss Enactments

       09                      Ritual Design (behavioral)

       16                      Loss Box Discussions

       23                     Class Does Not Meet – Thanksgiving Recess

       30                      Closing Ritual

Texas State University seeks to provide reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with disabilities. This university will adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations and guidelines with respect to providing reasonable accommodations as required to afford equal opportunity. It is the student’s responsibility to register with Disability Support Services and to contact the faculty member in a timely manner to arrange for appropriate accommodations.