Project - Personal Analysis of a Major Loss

Background: We are all survivors of some type of loss. Everyone in this class has experienced some type of loss and accompanying grief. Besides death of a significant other, there are many other types of losses that produce grief. The purpose of this project is to analyze a loss you have experienced by using concepts you have learned in this course.

Listed below are examples of losses that you may write about:

1. The death of someone important to you:

- A parent, child, sibling, spouse, or other relative
- A close friend or someone you were romantically involved with.
- Someone famous that meant a lot to you.

2. The loss of a relationship through:

- betrayal, divorce, separation, or desertion
- kidnapping, murder, or disappearance
- mental illness
- substance abuse

3. The loss of a job (yours or someone you depended on for support)

4. Moving away from home, becoming homeless, becoming a refugee.

5. Loss of physical capacity or ability through illness, accident, the aging process.

6. The loss of a pet (through death, ran away, was stolen, etc.)

7. Loss of something valuable to you (home/property destroyed by fire, flood, natural disaster)

8. Loss of or denial of membership in a group that was important to you.

9. Loss of respect for, or sense of betrayal by a person, organization, or group that you had previously held in high esteem. Loss of your reputation.

10. Loss of trust in others, or loss of self-esteem due to physical, emotional, or sexual abuse.

Directions: Please Use These Sub-Headers

Part 1: Description of the loss event. 2-3 pages in length. Write this from the 3rdperson point of view to describe the events.

Part 2: The Reactions to the Loss:Again, write this from the 3rd person point of view. Use concepts from the text and your class notes to describe the reaction to the loss. Do this in 2-3 pages, double-spaced. Use the APA format to cite specific concepts from the text.

Questions to consider when writing Part 2:

1. When he/she experienced this loss, what emotions, feelings, thought, and physical symptoms did the person experience?

2. How did this loss affect the person mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, socially?

3. Did the person's reactions to this loss mirror any of the theories of grief in the text?

If yes, describe the similarities. If not, describe the differences.

Part 3: The Current Status. 2-3 pages. Switch to 1st person for this section. Describe how you feel now. How have your feelings, thoughts, reactions changed over time? How has your life changed due to the loss? What did you learn from this?