things. Emotional response, and trauma, must be seen in relative not absolute terms. Themodel helps remind us that the other person's perspective is different to our own, whether weare the one in shock, or the one helping another to deal with their upset.The study of death and dying is actually known as thanatology (from the Greek word'thanatos' meaning death). Elisabeth Kübler-Ross is accordingly sometimes referred to as athanatologist, and she is considered to have contributed significantly to the creation of thegenre of thanatology itself.Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's seminal book was On Death & Dying, published in 1969, in whichshe explained her now classically regarded 'five stages of grief'. The book and its ideas werequite revolutionary at the time, reflecting Kübler-Ross's outspoken and bold approach, whichis paradoxical given the sensitivity and compassion of her concepts.
was a catalyst. She opened up and challenged previously conservative (sweep itunder the carpet, don't discuss it, etc) theories and practices relating to death and bereavement, and received an enormously favourable response among carers, the dying andthe bereaved, which perhaps indicates the level of denial and suppression that had earlier characterised conventional views about the subject - particularly in the western world, wheredeath is more of a taboo than in certain other cultures.As stated, and important to emphasise, Kübler-Ross's five stages of grief model wasdeveloped initially as a model for helping dying patients to cope with death and bereavement,however the concept also provides insight and guidance for coming to terms with personaltrauma and change, and for helping others with emotional adjustment and coping, whatever the cause. This has probably helped her ideas to spread and to enter 'mainstream' thinking.
and her ideas have now become synonymous with emotionalresponse to trauma, and to grief support and counselling, much likeMaslowis fundamentallyassociated with motivational theory;Kolb with learning styles, and Gardner with multiple
intelligence.As with much other brilliant pioneering work, the Kübler-Ross model is elegantly simple. Thefive stages of grief modelis summarised and interpreted below.This Kübler-Ross five stages and terminology are featured here with permission from theElisabeth Kübler Ross Foundation, which is gratefully acknowledged. Please look at the twowebsiteswww.ekrfoundation.org, andwww.elisabthkublerross.com, both of which enable and
sustain Dr Kübler-Ross's values and mission, and extend help to those who need it.Please be aware that the interpretation and contextual material on this webpage represents myown thoughts on the subject. I would encourage you to develop your own ideas too - this is adeeply significant area and one that can be interpreted in many ways. My interpretation andassociations are not an attempt to reproduce Kübler-Ross's thinking, they seek to provide amodern context, and to relate the basic model to the philosophies of this website.Use of and reference to the Elisabeth Kübler-Ross five stages for commercial purposes, and publication of EKR quotations, require permission from the EKR Foundation. You can usefreely the other aspects of this page subject to the normaltermsfor using this website, brieflysummarised at the foot of this page.