How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 213

4.22 THE KÜBLER-ROSS GRIEF CYCLE
For many years, people with terminal illnesses were an
embarrassment for doctors. Someone who could not be cured
was evidence of the doctors' fallibility, and as a result the
doctors regularly shunned the dying with the excuse that there
was nothing more that could be done (and that there was
plenty of other demand on the doctors' time).
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross was a doctor in Switzerland who railed
against this unkindness and spent a lot of time with dying
people, both comforting and studying them. She wrote a book,
called 'On Death and Dying' which included a cycle of emotional
states that is often referred to (but not exclusively called) the
Grief Cycle.
In the ensuing years, it was noticed that this emotional cycle
was not exclusive just to the terminally ill, but also other people
who were affected by bad news, such as losing their jobs or
otherwise being negatively affected by change. The important
factor is not that the change is good or bad, but that they
perceive it as a significantly negative event.
The Extended Grief Cycle
The Extended Grief Cycle can be shown as in the chart below,
indicating the roller-coaster ride of activity and passivity as the
person wriggles and turns in their desperate efforts to avoid
the change.
The initial state before the cycle is received is stable, at least in
terms of the subsequent reaction on hearing the bad news.
Compared with the ups and downs to come, even if there is
some variation, this is indeed a stable state.

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