Based on the passage, the underlined word, 'cathartic,' most likely means:

Read the selection and answer the questions that follow: Tip: Since the assessment is not timed, take as much time as you need to read each passage. Each passage may have one or more questions. A helpful strategy is to focus on the opening and ending sentences of each paragraph to identify the main idea. Another strategy is to look for key words or phrases within the passage that indicate the author's purpose or the meaning.    The Grieving Process Since its formulation, Dr. Kubler-Ross' stages of grieving have been an invaluable tool in understanding how people cope with loss. Although... Show more

Read the selection and answer the questions that follow:

Tip: Since the assessment is not timed, take as much time as you need to read each passage. Each passage may have one or more questions. A helpful strategy is to focus on the opening and ending sentences of each paragraph to identify the main idea. Another strategy is to look for key words or phrases within the passage that indicate the author's purpose or the meaning. 
 

The Grieving Process

Since its formulation, Dr. Kubler-Ross' stages of grieving have been an invaluable tool in understanding how people cope with loss. Although individuals may experience the stages of grieving in varying degrees and in various progressions, the average person tends to go through the following stages when grieving: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. While most of these stages seem natural, many people do not understand the importance of the anger stage in the grieving process. When a person experiences a significant loss in his or her life, experiencing anger as a result of this loss is both cathartic and therapeutic; in other words, anger at one's loss provides an emotional release and allows for the beginning of the healing process. By directing one's anger at a deity, fate, or even oneself, grieving people can come to realize that tragedies are seldom the fault of an individual or a higher power; rather, loss is a natural part of living that each person must experience. Trying to assign blame can allow the grieving individual to abandon his or her anger by showing that there is no-one to whom blame can be assigned. Having no-one to blame allows the bereaved to begin to heal because he or she can begin to come to terms with the necessity of loss. If an individual cannot move beyond anger, however, he or she may exhibit destructive tendencies. There are a number of ways that people can fail to properly go through the anger stage of the grieving process. Some individuals may never find an object for their anger. These people may feel a vague, continual irritability or may react unreasonably to circumstances. Other grieving individuals may assign blame to an object but not realize that a given person or entity is blameless. This may result in a loss of religious faith, an unreasonable hatred of an individual, or even self-destructive tendencies in those individuals who blame themselves. These and other destructive consequences may be avoided if the bereaved successfully negotiate the grieving process. Anger is not generally approved of in contemporary society because it is associated with violence, hatred, and destruction. Anger does, however, have its place—it is a natural and healthy step in the grieving process. Without experiencing this vital stage, it is difficult, if not impossible, to begin to move past tragedy.

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