Psychotherapy for Complicated Bereavement: A Meaning-Oriented Approach

Abstract

The challenges confronting the bereaved are profound, often requiring them to re-establish a changed sense of self and world at the same time that they struggle with the emotional devastation of the loss and the reconstruction of their relationship to the deceased. In this article, two expert grief therapists reflect on the contributions that professional intervention can make to this effort, examining different sources of complication that can arise as a function of the nature of the loss, similarities and differences between grief work and trauma processing, the role of attachment security in predisposing to problematic or resilient courses of adaptation, and the use of specialized methods such as imaginative chair work with the deceased to foster the integration of loss in a healing way. They also reflect on the mixed evidence for the helpfulness of grief therapy, ultimately offering an affirmative view of its relevance for appropriately selected clients when the therapist is able to combine a specialized knowledge of bereavement with comprehensive psychotherapeutic training and an informed and humble recognition of the therapist's role in facilitating the process of change.