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Beginning Counselors' Death Concerns and Empathic Responses to Client Situations Involving Death and Grief

Bibliographic Data

ID12095569
AuthorsThomas M Kirchberg (Memphis VA Medical Center, corresponding author), THOMAS M KIRCHBERG ROBERT A NEIMEYER RICHARD K JAMES
Year1998
Volume22
Issue2
Pages99-120
Publication date1998-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDeath Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0748-1187 • E-ISSN: 1091-7683
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/074811898201623
PMID10182421
OpenAlexW2169603406
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited23

Beginning counselors' levels of discomfort and ability to respond empathically to clients presenting with death-related issues was investigated. Fifty-eight masters-level counseling students completed the Threat Index and the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale and viewed a series of 8 videotape vignettes depicting clients with death-related (e.g., grief, AIDS) and non-death-related problems (e.g., marital discord, physical handicap). As hypothesized, significantly higher levels of counselor discomfort were found in responding to client situations involving death and dying, especially when these involved serious illness in the client. In addition, personal fear of death predicted counselors' distress in death counseling. Contrary to expectations, counselors were actually slightly more empathic in responding to grief and loss than other conditions, although the overall level of empathy displayed was low in absolute terms. The least empathic responses were provided by counselors who construed death in fatalistic terms on the Threat Index, and who were "saturated" with death themes by the completion of death attitude questionnaires prior to viewing the videos. The authors concluded that death and loss counseling presents unique challenges to beginning mental health providers, especially for those whose personal death anxieties leave them vulnerable to such work

Disenfranchised grief · Empathy · Fatalism · Fear of death · Grief · Personal distress · Psychiatry · Traumatic grief · Clinical Psychology · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Psychology · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology

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    Open Access•Francesco Belviso, Michael D Gaubatz•OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying•2013

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Unique citing works25
Citations per year0,96
Citation span2000 - 2026 (27)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 25
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