Personal Experiences and Trauma

Personal Reflection Paper
As social workers, our greatest tool is ourselves. As such, we must identify and process our individual experiences so that we can both utilize those experiences as catalysts for personal and professional growth, as well as potential factors for possible transference and countertransference with clients.
In this short, reflective paper, please examine a personal loss. The loss can be either death or non-death related. Briefly describe the loss, and its effect on you as an individual. This is not a trauma narrative, and you do not have to go into anything you don’t feel comfortable sharing. The purpose of this assignment is to invite you to examine something from your life with a new lens focusing on grief, loss and bereavement.
You may use the prompts below to guide you:

1. How was your experience of this loss influenced by the biopsychosocial aspects of your life: your bio-genetic factors, personal-agentic factors, dyadic-relational factors, and cultural-linguistic factors?
2. How did you grieve this loss? What helped and/or hindered your grief process?
3. Was there anticipatory grief involved? If so, were you aware of it at the time?
4. Would you classify your grief as normal/complicated/ambiguous/traumatic/delayed or a combination of these?
5. Was your loss in any way overlooked, unacknowledged or marginalized?
6. How do you feel that this loss impacted your interest in the field of social work, particularly with trauma and/or grief work?

My info below as a start: (three pages)

My sister died unexpectedly on July 4th , 2023, it was very traumatic. It affected all aspects of my life. I cried for weeks,months. The support of my best friend and family helped.
Combo classified my grief as normal, and traumatic, complicated. (we were true siblings so history of not getting along well.
Because of her drinking problem, I believe my loss was overlooked due to her poor life habits, which offended me greatly
This loss impacted me to be more aware of the variety of bereavement and to be supportive and active listener and compassionate with my clients. I can empathize their pain.

Loss and Grief Across the Lifecycle
• Defining Grief
• Kubler-Ross’ Stages of Grief – Is it still a valued model?
• Biopsychosocial aspects of loss and grief
• Responses to Grief across the lifecycle
Required Readings/Viewings
• Neimeyer, R.A. & Cacciatore, J (2016). Techniques of Grief Therapy: Assessment and Intervention. Chapter 1 and 2, pages 3-18.
• Peña-Vargas C, Armaiz-Peña G, Castro-Figueroa E. A Biopsychosocial Approach to Grief, Depression, and the Role of Emotional Regulation. Behavioral Sciences. 2021; 11(8):110. Links to an external site.https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11080110Links to an external site.
• Psychosocial Counseling Aspects of Grief, Death, and Dying. I. Marini & M.A. Stebnicki (Eds.) (2018). The Psychological and Social Impact of Illness and Disability (7th ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing, Chapter 14 (pp.245-256).
Suggested Readings:
• Kubler-Ross, E, M.D. and Kessler, D. (2005) On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss. (pp 1-28)
• Martin, T.L. & Doka, K.J. (2011). The influence of gender and socialization on grieving styles. In Neimeyer, R., Harris,D.L., Winokuer, H.R., & Thornton, G.F. (Eds.). Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice (pp. 69-77). New York: Routledge.
• Miles, T. P., Allegra, J. C., Ezeamama, A., Simpson, C., Gerst-Emerson, K., & Elkins, J. (2016). In a longevity society, loss and grief are emerging risk factors for health care use findings from the health and retirement survey cohort aged 50 to 70 years. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 33(1), 41-46.
• Nelson, J. K. (2011). Separation, loss, and grief in adults: An attachment perspective. In Bennett, S. & Nelson, J.K. (Eds.). Adult Attachment in Clinical Social Work (pp. 79-95). New York: Springer.
• Nelson, J. K. (2013). Grief and loss in an age of global trauma: Protest and despair versus attachment and reorganization. In Contemporary Clinical Practice (pp. 19-27). New York: Springer. Links to an external site.http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4614-4124-3_3/fulltext.htmlLinks to an external site.
• Papa, A., Lancaster, N. G., & Kahler, J. (2014). Commonalities in grief responding across bereavement and non-bereavement losses. Journal of Affective Disorders, 161, 136-143.
• Walls, M. L., Whitbeck, L., & Armenta, B. (2016). A cautionary tale: Examining the interplay of culturally specific risk and resilience factors in indigenous communities. Clinical Psychological Science, 4(4), 732-743.
• Wang, K. T., Wei, M., Zhao, R., Chuang, C. C., & Li, F. (2014). The cross-cultural loss scale: Development and psychometric evaluation. Psychological Assessment, 27(1), 42-53.

Session 2
The Many Faces of Grief: Types, Presentations and Clinical Implications
• Normative vs complicated/prolonged grief
• Persistent complex bereavement Disorder
• Ambiguous grief
• Traumatic Grief
• Anticipated and disenfranchised grief
• Delayed, inhibited, abbreviated and other types of overlooked grief
Required Reading/Viewing
• Chapman, Kimberly J. B.N., M.Sc.; Pepler, Carolyn N., Ph.D. Coping, hope, and anticipatory grief in family members in palliative home care, Cancer Nursing: August 1998 – Volume 21 – Issue 4 – p 226-234
• Kropf, N. P., & Jones, B. L. (2014). When public tragedies happen: Community practice approaches in grief, loss, and recovery. Journal of Community Practice, 22(3), 281-298.
• Neimeyer, R.A. & Cacciatore, J (2016). Techniques of Grief Therapy: Assessment and Intervention. Chapter 3,4 and 5 (pp 19-35).
Recommended
• Arizmendi, B. J., & O’Connor, M. F. (2015). What is “normal” in grief? Australian Critical Care, 28(2), 58-62.
• Bandini, J. (2015). The medicalization of bereavement: (Ab) normal grief in the DSM-5. Death Studies, 39 (6), 347-352.
• Chan, W. C., & Tin, A. F. (2012). Beyond knowledge and skills: Self-competence in working with death, dying, and bereavement. Death Studies, 36(10), 899-913.
• Gamino, L. A., & Ritter, R. H. (2012). Death competence: An ethical imperative. Death Studies, 36(1), 23-40. h ttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07481187.2011.553503Links to an external site.
• Links to an external site.Jordan, A. H., & Litz, B. T. (2014). Prolonged grief disorder: Diagnostic, assessment, and treatment considerations. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 45(3), 180-187.
• Kouriatis, K., & Brown, D. (2014). Therapists’ experience of loss: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 68(2), 89-109.
• The Power of Bearing Witness by Rose Kumar http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rose-kumar-md/conscious-relationships_b_4333957.htmlLinks to an external site.

: ASSIGNMENT #1 – Examine trauma as it relates to CSWE Competency 2 – Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice as it relates to our clients and trauma
CSWE Competency 2 – Engage Diversity and Difference in Practice
Diversity and Difference are to be factored into in all aspects of our social work practice. When working in the grief, loss and bereavement space with a social work lens, it is important we engage in our clients diversity and differences from a greater whole. It is a way to meet them where they are.
For this paper we will use these skills as they relate to trauma…as trauma informed practice is key to effectively walking with our clients on their grief journey – be it traumatic loss or not.
Please select an article from the course outline OR a newspaper article, video, poem, short story, podcast as the basis for a short reflection paper focused on the course topic and trauma. Please review the reference document you selected. Examine and reflect upon the ways in which diversity, cultural contexts, and identities guide the experience of trauma, responding to at least 2-3 of the prompt questions below.[Identify reference document or video using APA style and if possible include a link to the piece]
Based on what you learned from the reference document or video respond to at least two to three (2 to 3) of the following questions:

1. How does diversity affect the experience of trauma?
2. How do help-seeking behaviors differ based on a person’s cultural context and trauma?
3. How do culture and context guide trauma responses?
4. How does conscious or unconscious bias relate to our work with trauma survivors?
5. How important is self-awareness in being an effective trauma specialist?
6. What skills would you select or apply to the issue referred to in your document?
   The completed assignment should be three to four pages in length (double spaced). It provides you with an opportunity to examine the possibilities for applied clinical practice reflecting upon a social justice issue, topic or area of social work in the context of various forms of narrative and stories, including literature or media as well as academic articles. The assignment encourages you to think outside the box and allows for the possibility to draw on narrative and non-academic resources as you consider the possibilities for practice.

Session3 , 2025
Assignment #1 Due – Engage in Diversity and Difference with trauma lens
Assessment Tools for Grieving Person
• Differential assessment and evidence-based interventions
• Identifying Grief Intensity
• Assessing depression, trauma, anxiety
• Assessing for suicidality
Required Reading/Viewing:
• Neimeyer, R.A. & Cacciatore, J. (2016). Toward a developmental theory of grief. In R. A. Neimeyer (Ed.). Techniques of grief therapy: Assessment and intervention. Part II Assessing Bereavement. (pp 39-101).
• Shear, M. K. (2015). Complicated grief. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(2), 153-160.
• Worden, J.W. & Doka, K.J. (2011). A task-based approach for counseling the bereaved. In Neimeyer, R., Harris, D.L., Winokuer, H.R., & Thornton, G.F. (Eds.). Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society: Bridging Research and Practice (pp. 57-68). New York: Routledge.
Recommended
• Hall, C. (2014) Bereavement theory: Recent developments in our understanding of grief and bereavement. Bereavement Care, 33 (1), 7-12.
• Leichtentritt, R. D., Yerushalmi, A., & Barak, A. (2013). Characteristics of the ongoing bond. British Journal of Social Work, 7, 1-17. h ttp://bjsw.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/11/06/bjsw.bct171.fullLinks to an external site.
• Links to an external site.Rosner, R., Bartl, H., Pfoh, G., Kotoučová, M., & Hagl, M. (2015). Efficacy of an integrative CBT for prolonged grief disorder: A long-term follow-up. Journal of Affective Disorders, 183, 106-112.
• Rynearson, E. K. (2012). The narrative dynamics of grief after homicide. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 65(3), 239-249.
• Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (2015). Family matters in bereavement: Toward an integrative intra-interpersonal coping model. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(6), 873-879.
ASSIGNMENT #2
Personal Reflection Paper
As social workers, our greatest tool is ourselves. As such, we must identify and process our individual experiences so that we can both utilize those experiences as catalysts for personal and professional growth, as well as potential factors for possible transference and countertransference with clients.
In this short, reflective paper, please examine a personal loss. The loss can be either death or non-death related. Briefly describe the loss, and its effect on you as an individual. This is not a trauma narrative, and you do not have to go into anything you don’t feel comfortable sharing. The purpose of this assignment is to invite you to examine something from your life with a new lens focusing on grief, loss and bereavement.
You may use the prompts below to guide you:

1. How was your experience of this loss influenced by the biopsychosocial aspects of your life: your bio-genetic factors, personal-agentic factors, dyadic-relational factors, and cultural-linguistic factors?
2. How did you grieve this loss? What helped and/or hindered your grief process?
3. Was there anticipatory grief involved? If so, were you aware of it at the time?
4. Would you classify your grief as normal/complicated/ambiguous/traumatic/delayed or a combination of these?
5. Was your loss in any way overlooked, unacknowledged or marginalized?
6. How do you feel that this loss impacted your interest in the field of social work, particularly with trauma and/or grief work?