At Grief Encounter everything we do, from one to one counselling to family days, from the helpline to training courses is based on our fundamental philosophy that every child, young person and family experiencing the death of a loved one should receive the best possible care and support.
It was commonly believed that people went through “stages of grief” in a progressive way. Grief Encounter’s founder, Dr Shelley Gilbert has reassessed those stages, believing instead a more realistic process – The Upward Spiral of Grief.
Written about in more detail in Shelley’s GriefBook (2021) the spiral shows the commonly known feelings of grief; disbelief, denial, shock, sadness, guilt and anger, but not in any set order. The spiral instead more closely reflects the reoccurring emotions and confusion that a child may feel.
The upward spiral shows that there is hope and light in the darkness; colour will come back but it takes time and love. It’s certainly not a neat and tidy journey, but complicated and full of pit-holes.
At Grief Encounter our mission is simple but meaningful; to offer compassion, understanding and support wherever we see grief, confusion and pain.
Shelley shares a powerful message at this TEDx Talk, about the grieving processes of young people and adults, reframing thinking about the way we grieve and giving people permission to grieve in a much better way than undertaken in our society.