Rethinking the Cycle of Grief: Embracing a Modern Perspective

For decades, the “five stages of grief” model, developed by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, has shaped our understanding of loss. While this framework (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) offered a way to make sense of grief, recent research and personal experiences have shown that grief is much more complex than a predictable, step-by-step cycle. In reality, grief is as unique as the individual experiencing it, and it doesn’t follow a linear path.