Overcoming the Grief of Involuntary Job Loss: Road to recovery, finding purposes and happiness

Vanessa had been grieving over the involuntary job loss and haunted by legal fights over her unfair treatment at an oil-gas (O&G) corporation in Texas. The shock of unexpected job loss stopped Vanessa's brain and she felt pain, denial, and anger kick in.

She bargained to keep the promise to fight her legal battle all the way while suffering from anxiety and depression. Bereaved with sadness, Vanessa took a step backward to old feelings and could not change what had happened using legal proceedings.

However, she could alter her reflection and defense in her legal fights. The O&G employer offered to settle Vanessa's complaint out of court, which helped her to move forward through the seven stages of grief from shock to acceptance.

Vanessa was determined to research the feelings of involuntary job loss that caused the sense of disrupted self.

At first, she did not understand the stage of the grieving process that led her to find meaning in her transforming grief, which resulted in peace and renewal. Vanesa found purpose through her research and examination of other adults' involuntary job losses.

Her quest for meaning through research is an essential addition to grief literature that will be a vital tool for those healing from involuntary job loss.