JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING Circumstantial factors surrounding a loss may preclude or make com- pletion of the grieving process difficult or impossible(de Vries, 1997 Worden, 1991). Uncertainty of the loss, not knowing if a person is truly dead precludes adequate grieving(c g, missing children, soldiers who are listed missing in action, or disaster victims whose bodies are not recov ered ) Where no concrete evidence of death is found mourning can be unresolved. Situations where multiple losses occur(e.g, Oklahoma City bombing) can make grieving difficult if not impossible due to the sheer olume involved. Where there are multiple losses in close proximity, it becomes easier to shut down completely Historical factors. People who have experienced complicated grief have a higher probability of having complications again(Worden. 1991) Additionally, past losses and separations have an effect on current los and separations and the capacity for future attachments. History of tal illness can predispose one to complications that prevent adeq Grief resolution requires the experiencing of universal feelings of helplessness in the face of existential loss. Worden(1991)notes that per sonality factors are related to how well or poorly a person copes with emotional distress. Inability to tolerate extreme emotional distress relat ed to bereavement leads to defensive withdrawal and can short circuit the grieving process resulting in an abnormal grief response SUMMARY When the attachment bond is broken, people experience grief. Grief is a normal and universal phenomenon that requires everyone who experi ences it to reevaluate and reorganize their attachments to significant oth ers. Bowlby posited that reorganization of attachments progresses through four phases. Within these phases can be identified common grief experiences or behavior patterns generic to all who experience disruption in attachment bonds. However, the duration of the phase and/or intensity of the experience differs from person to person, depending on a number of influencing factors. It is the nature of the influencing factors, duration of the phase and the duration/intensity of the experience that helps dif ferentiate normal from abnormal or pathological grieving Reorganization and resolution of the grieving process requires time and successful completion of the tasks of mourning. Phases in the griev ing process coincide with tasks related to their resolution. Tasks of mourning connote an active process empowering the bereaved to take control of an otherwise uncontrollable circumstance. However, grieving is not a linear process. Vacillation back and forth in and among the phases Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permissionReproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission