Veterans: Greiving, Adjustment and Adaptation

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Hardships and changes are a natural and normal part of life that all families must encounter and deal with. (Friedman Bowden, & Jones, 2003). The death of a loved one, a form of hardship, can disturb a family’s course of development and can throw a family into crisis (Smith, Hamon, Ingoldsby, & Miller, 2009). In the motion picture “Grace is Gone,” the father Stanley Philips must face the challenge of telling his two young daughters that their mother Grace has been killed in combat overseas. The evaluation of the Philips family’s coping in dealing with a life altering event reveals dysfunctional and functional coping processes. The coping mechanisms of a family are very important in the family’s ability to function and survive (Friedman et al., 2003). A health care provider can use a family stress model to evaluate what makes a family vulnerable, resilient and adaptive (McCubbin, 1995). Furthermore, assessing a family’s resources and coping strategies are important for health care providers to assist families adapt and achieve “higher levels of wellness” (Friedman et al., 2003, p. 464). Under the perspective of the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptation, the purpose of this paper is to describe the stressors the Philips family encountered, evaluate their responses, and consider resources that would have been applicable for their situation. Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation. Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation was developed from the Hill’s Family Stress Theory and is a method to describe how families perceive and respond to stress (Friedman et al., 2003). It can be an effective way for counselors to allow for the “consideration of cultural an... ... middle of paper ... ...rieved from, http://www.griefshare.org/about Friedman, M. M., Bowden, V. R., & & Jones, E. G. (2003). Family nursing: Research, theory, and practice (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. National Military Family Association. (2010). About us. Retrieved from http://www.militaryfamily.org/about-us/ McCubbin, M. A. (1995). The typology model of adjustment and adaptation: A family stress model. Guidance & Counseling, 10(4), 31. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Smith, S. R., Hamon, R. R., Ingoldsby, B. B., Miller, J. E. (2009) Exploring family theories (2nd ed.). Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press. Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. (2011). About us. Retrieved from http://www.taps.org/about.aspx U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (2009). Bereavement Counseling. Retrieved from http://www.vetcenter.va.gov/Bereavement_Counseling.asp

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