The Grief Elaboration Process in the Pandemic Scenario: A Group Intervention

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed thousands of victims worldwide. To deal with loss is a formidable challenge for all, especially those who experienced losing their loved ones. The grief elaboration process is complex, and the pandemic adds some specific challenges, such as the restrictions to funerals and farewell rituals or the impossibility of saying goodbye due to the sanitary measures. This chapter presents a group psychological intervention aimed at people who lost their relatives to COVID-19. The therapeutic groups were carried out virtually through six sessions and brought together people from all over Brazil. Narrative therapy was the theoretical model adopted. The participants mentioned the moment of diagnosis as decisive for experiencing the disease’s terminality and anguish, promoting guilt and anxiety in the family. In the group, the participants found space to share the painful experience, and throughout the sessions, they were able to develop coping resources. They mentioned strategies, such as activating the family and social support network, recalling legacies and moments they shared with the deceased, and elaborating farewell rituals adapted to the pandemic circumstances. The participants evaluated the group intervention as very important for reframing the pain of loss and restoring future projects since they counted on the help and inspiration of the other participants who went through this painful experience in similar circumstances.