BMS Grief and Bereavement Counseling 3 ā Questions and Answers
Question 1: William Worden's Task II of mourning involves:
- Accepting the reality of the loss
- Working through the pain of grief (Correct answer)
- Adjusting to an environment without the deceased
- Finding an enduring connection with the deceased
Correct answer: Working through the pain of grief
Worden's Task II is to work through the pain of grief, acknowledging and experiencing the emotional, physical, and behavioral pain that accompanies loss.
Question 2: A bereaved father is three months post-loss and still goes to set a place at the dinner table for his deceased son each evening. This behavior is best described as:
- A pathological symptom requiring immediate intervention
- A transitional ritual that may be part of normal early grief (Correct answer)
- Evidence of unresolved complicated grief disorder
- A dissociative response to traumatic loss
Correct answer: A transitional ritual that may be part of normal early grief
Continuing rituals connected to the deceased (setting a place, buying their preferred foods) can be normal in early grief and represent a transitional bond that often fades naturally over time.
Question 3: The funeral service profession's role in grief support is BEST described as:
- Providing ongoing therapeutic grief counseling equivalent to licensed therapists
- Creating meaningful rituals and an environment that facilitates healthy grieving (Correct answer)
- Diagnosing grief disorders and prescribing interventions
- Replacing the need for formal mental health referrals
Correct answer: Creating meaningful rituals and an environment that facilitates healthy grieving
Funeral professionals support grief primarily through meaningful rituals, dignified care of the deceased, and a compassionate environmentānot through clinical therapy.
Question 4: George Bonanno's research on grief trajectories found that the most common grief outcome following bereavement is:
- Chronic grief lasting several years
- A gradual recovery taking 12ā18 months
- Resilience, with minimal prolonged disruption to functioning (Correct answer)
- Delayed grief emerging months after apparent normalcy
Correct answer: Resilience, with minimal prolonged disruption to functioning
Bonanno's longitudinal research showed that resilienceāmaintaining relatively stable functioning after lossāis actually the most common trajectory, not the exception.
Question 5: Which statement about grief in children ages 3ā5 is most accurate?
- Children this age fully understand the permanence of death
- Children may engage in magical thinking, believing they caused the death (Correct answer)
- Children in this age group rarely exhibit behavioral grief responses
- Children should be shielded from funerals to prevent psychological harm
Correct answer: Children may engage in magical thinking, believing they caused the death
Preschool-aged children often engage in magical thinking and may believe that something they said, thought, or did caused the death, requiring gentle reassurance.
Question 6: In grief support, 'active listening' primarily involves:
- Offering advice and solutions to reduce the bereaved person's distress
- Asking multiple questions to gather clinical information
- Reflecting feelings, maintaining eye contact, and minimizing interruptions (Correct answer)
- Sharing personal grief experiences to build rapport
Correct answer: Reflecting feelings, maintaining eye contact, and minimizing interruptions
Active listening in grief support centers on being fully present, reflecting the bereaved person's feelings accurately, and resisting the urge to fix or advise.
Question 7: Which physiological symptom is commonly reported during acute grief and should NOT automatically be interpreted as a separate medical condition?
- Persistent fever above 103Ā°F
- Chest tightness and shortness of breath (Correct answer)
- Jaundice
- Bleeding gums
Correct answer: Chest tightness and shortness of breath
Chest tightness and shortness of breath are well-documented somatic symptoms of acute grief, sometimes described as the physical 'ache' of loss, though serious cardiac causes must always be ruled out.
BMS Grief and Bereavement Counseling 3
William Worden's Task II of mourning involves: