Stages of Grief

While grieving is a unique and individual process there are many shared elements. There are many helpful descriptions of the grief process however Kubler-Ross’s Grief Cycle is particularly relevant to the process for grieving the end of a marriage.

The stages of grief as set out by Kubler-Ross are as follows:

1. Shock / denial;
2. Anger;
3. Bargaining;
4. Depression / despair;
5. Acceptance.

​The process is not always linear and you are just as likely to move back and forth between the stages as to move through them sequentially. Some people do not actually move through all five stages and instead get stuck in one of the stages.

One of the goals of Collaborative Process is to ensure that both you and your spouse can make informed, wise and durable decisions. Often this means, that we need to slow down the process to allow someone to move through a period of intense anger or depression. Be sure to let your lawyer know how you are doing and how you are feeling so that he or she can modify the timing of the process if necessary.

Understanding what the stages of grief look like will help you determine where you are and where your partner is.