Where Spirituality,

Grief & Wellness

Counseling Meet
By Patricia G. Fearing
CNS 762 BG FA 16

Introduction

Practitioners who model compassionate

service to humanity and foster the well
being of society.1

Spirituality and Religion, Wellness

Counseling and Grief and Loss inevitably
integrate in our daily lives. This makes
them natural topics to integrate within
counseling.

Spirituality and
Religion

Spirituality is less a method than an

attitude, a posture of ones being that
allows seeing not different things but
everything differently.2

Spirituality and counseling session =

Private

Religion and effect of counseling = Public

Grief and Loss

The only way to the other side of pain is

to walk through it, not around it- Unknown
author

Wolfelt says that pain needs to be

confronted, not ignored. The pain of grief
impacts the emotional, physical and
spiritual self. 3

Wellness Counseling

goal of helping you live your life more

fully in all areas such as social, personal,
environmental. 4

Wellness counseling is a synthesis of topics

in of itself.

Mind, body and spirit need consideration

and care in order to strive toward optimal
health and well-being.

Present Integration

In Domestic Violence Counseling, all three

of these topics are relevant and present in
sessions with clients.

Synthesis: Supporting those who are

grieving the loss of their prior
life/hopes/dreams with the use of spirituality
and religion, when relevant, to help cope
with the present stresses, all in hopes of
striving for overall wellness.

Future Integration

Grief and Loss, Spirituality and Religion

and overall Wellness are active topics in
our day to day lives.

Wellness is not only culturally popular, but

impacting how we look at self care,
including these topics.

Techniques, research, policy writing, how

we interact with our clients

Resources
1. Online Masters of Arts in Counseling Brochure. WFU Counseling
Department.
http://counseling.online.wfu.edu/lpap/?Access_Code=WFU-MACSEO2&utm_source=seo2&utm_medium=seo
2. Kurtz, E. (1999). The collected Ernie Kurtz. Wheeling, WV: Bishop of
Books.
3. Wolfelt, A. D. (2003). Understanding your grief: Ten essential
touchstones for finding hope and healing your heart. Fort Collins,
CO: Companion Press.
4. Myers, Jane E., and Thomas J. Sweeney. Counseling for Wellness:
Theory, Research, and Practice. Alexandria, VA: American
Counseling Association, 2005.