Grief and loss is a universal experience that impacts individuals in a multitude of ways and emotes various emotions while working through the grief journey. It is reported that by the age of 16, one in 20 children will experience the death of one or both of their parents (Parsons, 2011). School counselors working with grieving students have the…

An estimated 15 million people in the US have had a near-death experience (NDE), an experience of usually lucid consciousness during aclose brush with death. Following an NDE, experiencers (NDErs) sometimes feel challenged and seek counseling to integrate the experience into their subsequent lives. They have reported psychologically harmful…

This study explored helping professionals' views on death work competencies. A total of 176 helping professionals were invited to state what the necessary competencies in death work are. Content analysis was conducted. Results showed that death work competencies can be categorized into 4 major areas: (a) knowledge competence, (b) practice…

A review of the literature reveals few articles that deal with social work with grieving children in the public school setting. The purpose of this research is to describe and analyze the services that school social workers provide to grieving children. Grieving children are defined as those who have experienced loss through death of someone…

This paper attempts to provide initial perspectives on guidelines for the preparation of counselors in dealing with client problems as they relate to death. Four elements of a training program are presented: (1) sensitizing counselors and prospective counselors to the topic of death and its potential importance; (2) helping those same people…

Contains four personal accounts of counselors' dealing with the death of a child: (1) "Lessons for Living from a Dying Child" (Garry Landreth); (2) "The Long Afternoon" (Malcolm Linville); (3) "The Birth of Empathy" (Alan Steed); and (4) "Death Vigil for Heather: When Counseling and Grieving Became Inseparable" (Stephen Weinrach). (NB)

Counselors and counselor educators were surveyed regarding their attitudes toward death education and grief counseling. Comparative results found that death education and grief training has increased significantly in recent years, but that many school counselors report seminars on death education are not conveniently available. (Author)

Euthanasia is considered an important social issue of the 1990s. Mental health professionals should understand the differences between voluntary, involuntary, passive, and active euthanasia; mercy killing, and assisted suicide. Encourages counselors to ethically formulate client-supportive positions to help clients face life-and-death decisions.…

This paper explores ways in which school counselors can help young people with death-related concerns. It is often assumed that school counselors have the necessary skills for working with students who experience grief, but most graduate counseling curricula do not require courses in death education; thus, many counselors feel uncomfortable in…