Susan Anderson (psychotherapist)
While Kübler-Ross, Anderson, and others have attempted to define discrete stages of grief, such as an initial period of numbness leading to depression and finally to reorganization and recovery, most modern grief specialists recognize the variations and fluidity of grief experiences, that differ considerably in intensity and length among cultural groups and from person to person. No grief stage theory has been able to account for how people cope with loss, why they experience varying degrees and types of distress at different times, and how or when they adjust to a life without their loved one over time.
Grief (novel)
Frank - Frank is a sarcastic yet insightful friend of the narrator. He seeks to help the narrator overcome his grief and move on with his life. While the narrator argues that grief maintains a dead person's “presence on earth” (18), Frank argues that regardless of whether or not you grieve for the deceased, they are gone and there is no bringing them back. He helps the narrator interpret the actions of his landlord and also assists him in understanding the narrator's own emotions, his relationship with his mother, his need to be needed, even his relationship with his landlord's dog. Towards the end of the novel, it is revealed that Frank has cancer, and that his days are numbered.