Terror,Trauma, and Bereavement

Abstract

How is interpersonal loss incurred in a terror event similar and different from loss under non-terror conditions? Because terror and bereavement are located in the individual's experience of the event, this has important implications for assessment and intervention. In the Two-Track Model of Bereavement (TTMoB), the relationship between life threat, symptomatic response, and the ongoing relationship to the deceased allow therapy to target difficulties in functioning as well as relationship to the deceased. Two case vignettes are presented to ground the discussion.     

Cognitive Behavior Couple Therapy-REBT Model for Traumatic Bereavement

Following the loss of a child, couple counseling focuses on their grief process as well as the impact of the loss on the marital relationship. Individual differences in reacting to and coping with the loss, different patterns of grieving, and differences in attitudes about relationship issues may cause further distress and increase marital conflicts and adaptation to the loss. When bereavement occurs under traumatic circumstances, the conflicts may be further complicated and involve problems in daily functioning related to distorted cognitions and attributions connected with traumatic bereavement. In this paper, cognitive grief therapy using the ABC model of REBT with a couple who lost a child under traumatic circumstances will be described.     

Traumatic Loss: Conceptual and Empirical Links Between Trauma and Bereavement

Abstract

This article focuses on conceptual issues and empirical studies regarding the topic of traumatic loss (i.e., loss that occurs suddenly and under violent circumstances) as a method for linking the field of trauma, and that of grief and bereavement. Several definitions of trauma are presented that include the concept of loss, and additional concepts are suggested that may be helpful in thinking about the two areas together. Also, modes of death associated with poor recovery are noted, and it is argued that these modes are those that make a bereavement more “traumatic”. Some empirical studies on the psychological outcomes associated with traumatic loss are reviewed, and preliminary findings from a new study of traumatically bereaved women are briefly presented     

Between the idea and the reality: A study of the counselling experiences of bereaved people who sense the presence of the deceased

There have been many theories of the process of loss and bereavement, from Freud, to the present day. Early theories of bereavement described a process which, following various stages and associated tasks, ended at the relinquishment of the bond to the deceased. In more recent years theories have taken different directions, identifying how bereaved people re‐learn life, recreate biographies, and continue relationships to the deceased. Some research studies of bereavement have investigated the counsellors’ perspective, but there are very few studies of the client's experience and most studies have focussed on outcomes of counselling. This qualitative study, using semi‐structured interviews, provides an insight into the bereaved client's perspective on the content and process of their counselling experiences. Taking as its focus the client's sense of the presence of the deceased, this study aimed to identify whether or how counsellors facilitate exploration of this experience and which theories they use in client work. The main finding is that 80% of the counsellors were not perceived by participants to have worked with them satisfactorily in relation to their sense of presence of the deceased or in relation to the story of the death itself.     

Spiritual Distress and Depression in Bereavement: A Meaning-Oriented Contribution

One key focus of a meaning reconstruction model of bereavement concerns spiritual meanings attributed to the death, whether consoling or troubling. Specifically, previous studies in our research program suggest that religiously inclined violent death survivors are at risk for elevated levels of both bereavement distress and complicated spiritual grief, a crisis of faith following loss that refers to the erosion of the mourner’s relationship to God and/or the religious community. However, more research is needed to understand the convergence of depression and spiritual struggle in the context of violent and natural loss. In this study of a diverse sample of 59 American Christians bereaved less than 5 years, we sought to: (1) determine if individuals bereaved by homicide, suicide or fatal accident differed from those bereaved by natural causes in their levels of depression and spiritual coping; (2) investigate the relation between the latter constructs; and (3) ascertain if cause of death mediates the effect of religious coping on depression. We found that: (a) violently bereaved individuals endorsed more negative religious coping, and (b) depression was associated with greater spiritual struggle, particularly a sense of disrupted relationship with God. Contrary to expectations, positive religious coping was unrelated to post-loss depression, and cause of death did not mediate the relationship between spiritual coping and depressive symptomatology. A clinical case study concludes the article, illustrating the interweaving of spiritual and psychological distress in tragic bereavement, and their implications for a meaning-oriented grief therapy.     

“Bearing my fruit into the grave”: experiences of anticipatory grieving and bereavement among Zimbabwean HIV positive women with loss of their only child

This study aimed to explore the bereavement experiences of HIV positive women who had lost their only child. Participants were 10 women living with HIV (age range?=?24–35 years) and with loss of their only child. Data on experiences of anticipatory grief and bereavement among HIV positive women were collected over a period of six months. The data were analysed thematically. Findings suggest the women to have traumatic memories of their deceased children and also from the marital disharmony which followed the loss. The participants reported to have questioned their womanhood since they did not have any surviving child and dreaded the fact that they would die childless. Women also reported a sense of persona worthlessness following the death of the child and lived in fear and uncertainty of the future concerning their own mortality.     

Parental Bereavement After Suicide and Accident: A Comparative Study

In what way is the bereavement process following suicide different from other types of bereavement? The participants were 30 survivors of suicide and 30 survivors of car accidents who were interviewed twice at an average of six months, and the second measure was taken at an average of nine months after the death, with standardized questionnaires to measure depression and grief reaction. Measures of shame, social support, family adaptation, psychological distress, and prior losses were also obtained during the second interview. All survivors were parents who had lost a son aged between 18 and 35 years. The results indicate that suicide survivors were more depressed than accident survivors at the first measure but this difference disappeared at the second measure. Survivors of suicide experienced greater feelings of shame and had experienced more life events after the death than did accident survivors. There was also a greater history of loss in parents bereaved by suicide. Parental bereavement after suicide appears to differ in several ways from other types of bereavement and appears to happen more often in vulnerable families.     

Suicide Bereavement and Complicated Grief: Experiential Avoidance as a Mediating Mechanism

In the wake of increased interest in the specific features of suicide bereavement, the current study examines (a) the association between suicide bereavement and complicated grief and (b) the mediating effect of experiential avoidance on the association between suicide bereavement and complicated grief. The tests revealed a significant indirect effect of suicide bereavement on complicated grief through experiential avoidance. This finding suggests that traumatic characteristics of suicide bereavement may inhibit the grieving process by increasing experiential avoidance and emphasizing a cognitive approach for complicated grief of people who have lost their loved one to death by suicide.     

Constructions of Mexican American family grief after the death of a child: an exploratory study

Using a collective case study ethnographic approach, nine individuals comprising three Mexican American families were interviewed about their family bereavement experiences after the death of a child. All families were Catholic, had surviving siblings, and had had three or more years to grieve their loss when interviewed. The deceased children ranged in age from 3 to 14, and all experienced sudden, traumatic, nonsuicide deaths. To provide a broader, contextual picture of their grief experiences, four individuals who supported these family members after the loss were also interviewed. Unique grief experiences were identified, and eight common themes emerged, reflecting the ways in which family members maintained their bond to the deceased: dreams, storytelling, keepsakes, sense of presence, faith-based connections, proximity connections, ongoing rituals, and pictorial remembrances. The cultural implications of family bereavement are highlighted.     

Temporary and Long-Term Consequences of Bereavement on Happiness

In this article, we examine the temporary and long-term consequences of the death of a parent or child on happiness. According to set-point theory external conditions are expected to only have a short-term or limited influence on happiness. This directly contradicts the basic assumption of affective theories on happiness, which states that major life-events have a lasting influence on well-being. Moreover, we test whether the association between bereavement and happiness is equally strong across the life course. To test our hypotheses we make use of the fourth wave of the European Values Study. Our research findings demonstrate that people who lost their father, mother or child are more likely to feel unhappy than people without this experience. Ten years after the death of a parent or child we still find a significant difference in happiness between people who have and have not experienced this loss. The assumption of set-point theory, that major life evens only have a temporary impact on SWB, is not supported by our data. Moreover, the association between bereavement and SWB strongly differs across the life-course. We might even conclude that the age at which the loss occurred is more decisive for the strength of the association between bereavement and SWB than the duration of the loss.     

Family Bereavement and Cultural Diversity: A Social Developmental Perspective

This article offers an integrative, interdisciplinary model of bereavement as a family developmental process that unfolds in cultural context. A critique of cultural assumptions highlights the culture-bound nature of prevailing North American practices, which view grief as an isolated individual experience and emphasize detachment from the dead as a way to promote recovery. Death and grief precipitate two kinds of family change, both guided by culture yet uniquely experienced and interpreted by individual families: 1) recreating the family without a key family member; but capable of coping with both existing and new tasks; and 2) incorporating the death into an ongoing but irrevocably altered family life-cycle developmental process. In supporting family change after a death, family therapists need to collaborate with grieving families in examining the goodness of fit between their unique circumstances and the bereavement expectations of their community and culture. Four case examples are presented, two of which will apply this social developmental model to emphasize transformations of attachment to the deceased — rather than detachment — that will support the ongoing family development of grieving families.     

Bereavement anxieties and health amongst the Australian-Italian Catholic community

This article is based on survey of 269 households in the state of Victoria, Australia. It elicits some useful guidelines for professional caregivers in relation to eight cultural/religious groups including Australian-born Christians and Arab-born Muslims. The focus here is upon the relationships between the Australian Italian community and personal health outcomes during bereavement. The following sub-strata are examined: community differences in relation to grief and loss practices and traditions; the value of religious communal support and counseling; symptomatological differences from psychosocial and educational perspectives; psychopathological/psychiatric symptoms and beliefs and practice concerning the afterlife. Significant differences were revealed between the sexes on such matters as health problems, grief expressions, psychosomatic manifestations, communication with the dead, beliefs in the afterlife and interpretation of the meaning of loss. Differences in these findings will assist professional caregivers who deal with families experiencing personal death loss to broaden their own perspectives on bereavement, offering specific counselling strategies and care-giving interventions.     

Religiosity,Afterlife Beliefs,and Bereavement Adjustment in Adulthood

SUMMARY

Research in gerontology and bereavement adjustment often fails to examine the effects of religiousness and beliefs in the afterlife on grief. It was hypothesized that religiosity and belief in life after death would play different roles for younger and older adults regarding bereavement adjustment. Sample characteristics suggested that the interaction effect between age and religiosity or age and belief in life after death on bereavement adjustment could not be tested. However, aspects of bereavement adjustment, in particular physical health and efforts to cope, were found to be influenced by age, religiosity, and cause of death. Implications and directions for future research and counseling are discussed.     

哀伤研究：新的视角与理论整合

哀伤（bereavement）研究长期以来都依循“悲伤过程假设（griefworkhypothesis）”,但20世纪80年代后其强调“与逝者分离”的基本假设受到挑战,界定的模糊也使得实证研究工作难以进行。当代研究者从依恋理论、创伤研究、认知应对研究、情感的社会功能等视角多方面对哀伤领域进行深入探索并出现了一些整合性的理论模型,文中对有代表性的“依恋与哀伤双程模型”作了介绍,并对“悲伤过程假设”进行了重新检视     

中国丧亲个体社会支持体验的质性研究

本研究通过对28位丧亲者进行深度访谈,使用解释现象学分析法对质性数据进行分析,探索中国丧亲个体的社会支持体验。结果显示,丧亲社会支持的内容包括后事处理、情感支持、生活恢复帮助,经济与物资支持等。支持来源除家人和朋友之外,还包括同事、相同经历者,以及相关机构等。社会支持通过调节情绪、改变认知等方式促进个体对丧亲的适应。本研究结果为最新丧亲社会支持模型提供了支持,同时也反映出中国社会对丧亲人群的社会支持特色。     

Conceptualizing an HIV Diagnosis Through a Model of Grief and Bereavement

For people living with HIV/AIDS, grief and bereavement typically refer to the loss of life felt in the HIV community. However, changes in HIV treatments allow care providers to view HIV grief in a way that considers physical, social, and emotional loss, as well as a loss of the life they had previously pictured for themselves. Kübler‐Ross's ( 1969 ) model of bereavement is presented as a way to conceptualize clients living with HIV who are dealing with grief and bereavement. In addition, popular bereavement counseling approaches relevant to clients with HIV are discussed, and a case illustration is provided.     

The Death of a Pet: Implications for Loss and Bereavement Across the Lifespan

Abstract

Companion animals play a distinct role in our lives and for many, they are a part of the family and not simply just a pet. Today, in the United States, there is an increasing emphasis placed on the relationships that we build with our pets. A healthy relationship with our pets also lends to translate into a healthier lifestyle. However, we usually learn at a fairly young age that these beloved creatures do not live as long as we do. The loss of a pet in childhood is frequently our first face-to-face encounter with death and often affects how we will grieve as adults. Particularly within the field of psychology, the way we mourn our animal friends has gained increasing importance. This article looks at the literature concerning bereavement across the adult lifespan and focuses on the similarities between the way we grieve for our loved ones, both human and animal. We address some of the controversies associated with euthanasia and the treatment and support available to those in mourning. Finally, recommendations are offered to address some of the methodological problems in current bereavement research along with suggestions for further work in this area     

Neither Bereavement nor Grief: Coping with the Death of a Cherished Person in the Cunda-sutta

Though bereavement and grief have been common human experience throughout recorded history, how bereavement is viewed and grief coped with varies from one philosophical tradition to another. By examining features running throughout the Cunda-sutta, this paper demonstrates a shift from the ordinary conception of bereavement to an insightful understanding of not-bereavement. If one possesses insight into how worldly convention shapes ordinary conceptions of bereavement, then one need not associate bereavement with loss and grief. For ordinary people, grief may be regarded as a natural response to loss. However, in light of the emptiness of bereavement, the emphasis can be shifted from coping with grief to the understanding of not-grief and to the cultivation of mental abilities conducive to moving forward on the right path. By examining the reasoning of neither bereavement nor grief, this paper sheds new light on a rarely acknowledged perspective on coping with the death of a cherished person.     

Circumstances of Death and Complicated Grief: Indirect Associations Through Meaning Made of Loss

Losses by violent means and the loss of primary attachment figures may increase the likelihood of developing a chronic and severe grief response (referred to as complicated grief, or CG). Path analysis was used to examine the relationships between these risk factors and CG symptoms. College student participants filled out online questionnaires relating to their bereavement. Analyses provided support for statistical models whereby meaning made of the loss fully mediated the association between cause of death and CG symptoms and partially mediated the association between relationship to the deceased and CG symptoms. Although based on cross-sectional data, these findings provide additional support for meaning-oriented understandings of adaptation to loss.