We continue our mini video series on Psychologist J. William Worden’s Tasks of Grieving with the fourth and final task: to find an enduring connection with the deceased while embarking on a new life.
Finding ways to connect with your loved one is a normal and healthy part of the grieving process. It is balancing between honoring your loved one’s memories and moving forward to a full life. In Worden’s theory, not accomplishing this task prevents you from resuming your life in a meaningful way.
As she did with the previous three tasks, grief counselor, Jan McCarthy, breaks down this fourth task in a short video. Jan reminds us that grieving doesn’t end because you are on task four, and that there is no time frame to arrive here. Each person’s grief is unique and it doesn’t follow a schedule to completion. Remember, grief isn’t a linear process. The goal isn’t to go through each task as if it’s a check list. Grief is a process that has ups and downs. It is natural to go back to other tasks and repeat them.
Please keep in mind that our four part series on Worden’s Tasks of Mourning was a brief summary. In our grief groups, we would spend months discussing these tasks. If you find this grief model helpful, we encourage you to look further into Worden’s Tasks of Mourning. If this model doesn’t resonate with you, that’s okay. The act of educating yourself about grief can be beneficial in the healing process.