‘The bereaved therapist speaks’. An interpretative phenomenological analysis of humanistic therapists' experiences of a significant personal bereavement and its impact upon their therapeutic practice: An exploratory study

Aim: The aim of the research was to explore the under‐researched area of therapists' personal bereavement and its impact upon their therapeutic practice. Method: Data were collected via semi‐structured interviews with four humanistic therapists and were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings: Four master and eight subordinate themes emerged from the rich data collected that exemplified both convergence with and divergence from the small body of extant literature on therapist bereavement and current thinking in thanatology. The findings suggest that bereavement is a unique experience that can affect the individual's personal and social identity and worldview. It can also be a transformative experience resulting in personal growth and a renewed sense of self and agency. In terms of professional practice, the findings suggest that the lived experience of the grieving process, mediated by supportive supervision, enabled participants to experience deeper levels of empathy and connectedness within their therapeutic relationships. Conclusion and implications: Bereavement is an experience that can profoundly impact upon therapists' personal identity and assumptive world. Such an experience can have an equally profound impact upon their therapeutic practice. There are therefore implications for students, trainers, therapists and supervisors particularly in terms of self‐care and the use of the ‘self’ in therapy. Further research needs to be undertaken in order to explore in greater depth the intersection between personal bereavement and therapists' evolving personal and professional identity development.     

The distinctive moral personality of care exemplars

Positive emotion following bereavement was examined in a prospective longitudinal study. Participants lost a spouse (n?=?250) and were interviewed prior to the death, 6 months after the death, and in some cases 18 and 48 months after the death. Early theorists suggested that positive emotion during times of distress may indicate pathology. In contrast, more recent theorists suggest that positive emotion is desirable even during times of distress. In this analysis, positive emotion was associated with desirable outcomes (less depressed mood, more social support received, more social provision to others) and this effect was not diminished among people reporting elevated levels of distress. Also, the simultaneous occurrence of positive emotion and distress was not associated with pre-existing emotional instability. Those experiencing positive emotion reported lower levels of grief, but not qualitatively different grief. The findings suggest that positive emotion tends to be associated with desirable outcomes even among people reporting elevated distress.     

Managing the death of close others: Evidence of higher valuing of ingroup identity in young adults who have experienced the death of a close other

The death of a close other (DOCO) is perhaps the most difficult experience that people endure. According to terror management theory (TMT), people manage the potentially terrorizing awareness of their mortality by immersing in cultural worldviews that allow them to feel like valuable members of a meaningful universe who may have some existence or trace after death. Although TMT has potential implications for understanding how people cope with DOCO, few studies have examined this possibility. We report results from four studies showing that, in line with TMT, students who experienced DOCO reported stronger valuing of their identification with their in-groups, which in turn was associated with higher levels of self-esteem. These findings shed new light on the social-psychological dynamics of DOCO.     

The Traumatic Grief Inventory Self-Report Version (TGI-SR): Introduction and Preliminary Psychometric Evaluation

Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD) is a disorder of grief newly included in the “Emerging Measures and Models” section of the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013 American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. [Google Scholar]). Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) is a disorder with similar symptoms, likely to be included in the forthcoming 11th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11; World Health Organization, 1992 World Health Organization. (1992). International classification of diseases and related health problems (10th revision). Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization. [Google Scholar]). We developed the Traumatic Grief Inventory Self-Report version (TGI-SR), an 18-item measure, for the assessment of symptoms of PCBD and PGD in clinical and research settings. This study was an initial attempt to evaluate psychometric properties of the TGI-SR. To this end, the measure was administered to 327 patients of a mental health institute specialized in the treatment of psychopathology associated with loss and trauma. We found evidence that items of the TGI-SR (all 18 items, as well as the selection of 17 items representing PCBD criteria, and 11 items representing PGD criteria) loaded on one dimension. The TGI-SR demonstrated strong internal consistency. Elevated scores on the TGI-SR were significantly correlated with elevated scores on indices of psychopathology and lower quality of life, attesting to the concurrent validity. Receiver operation characteristic (ROC) analyses of the TGI-SR total score against provisional diagnoses of PCBD and PGD yielded a high area under the curve index suggesting that the TGI-SR total score can be used as an indicator for probable diagnoses of both PCBD and PGD. Results of this study provide initial evidence that PCBD and PGD symptoms may be readily and reliably measured using the TGI-SR.     

持续性联结及其与丧亲后适应的关系

生者与逝者的关系不会因为死亡而终止, 在逝者离世之后, 生者可能继续与逝者保持持续的、内在的联结, 这被称为“持续性联结”。持续性联结在不同文化中均普遍存在, 已有研究从联结控制点、联结的引发者等维度对其进行分类, 近年来, 持续性联结对丧亲后适应的影响成为丧亲及哀伤研究中的热点。持续性联结与丧亲后适应的关系呈现出复杂且不一致的研究结论。未来的研究应该在本土文化背景下去探索持续性联结的表现及特定意义, 思考持续性联结的分类并编制本土化的测量工具, 与此同时, 应该在理论驱动下去开展持续性联结与适应关系的实证研究。     

Mental Health, Depression, and Dimensions of Spirituality and Religion

The author explores the relationship between spirituality and religion and human growth and development, specifically examining emotional well-being during adulthood. Dimensions of spirituality to be explored are meaning in life, a transcendent purpose, intrinsic values, and spiritual community. The argument is made that spirituality is related to emotional well-being during adulthood. Implications for further research and relevant information for counselors, psychologists, and educators are included.     

Coping with bereavement in relation to different feminine gender roles

The effect of gender role on coping with conjugal bereavement was studied in 44 Norwegian widows. A "traditional" and a "modern" feminine gender role were juxtaposed. Information was collected by two semi-structured interviews concerning coping with bereavement, and by a health inventory (UHI). The information was analysed qualitatively in relation to central elements in the coping process (appraisals, problems, coping strategies, self-evaluations of coping, future expectancies of coping, and relevance of external resources). The findings revealed considerable differences in coping between the two gender roles, favouring the modern feminine gender role.     

Perceptions of conjugal relations among Israeli males: Pre-retirement versus early and late retirement phases

Attitudes of Israeli males toward conjugal life in preretirement versus the early and late phases of retirement were studied. Several differences appear between pre-retired and retired males, particularly in the late retirement phase. Compared with the pre-retired, late phase retirees expressed more conservative attitudes toward gender roles, increased emotional commitment toward the wife, greater expected dependence on the wife, a decline in health resources, and a greater power advantage in social aspects of conjugal life. Practical suggestions for family therapists dealing with couples in the later stages of married life include being aware of the differences between the stages of retirement and their effect on marital dynamics, giving particular attention to the effects of the increasingly conservative tendencies of the retired male and his anticipated power advantage in the social aspects of marriage on conjugal dynamics, and capitalizing on the increased emotional commitment of the male partner toward his wife in the later phase of retirement.Research interests include women at work and gender roles in the family.This article is a partial report of the findings presented in a doctoral dissertation written at Bar Ilan University under the supervision of Dr. H. Bareli and Dr. M. Katz.     

From Demonization to Identification: How Parents Who Lost Children in Terrorist Attacks Perceive the Attacker

The aim of this article is to examine how bereaved parents who lost children in terrorist attacks in Israel perceive the terrorist attack perpetrators. Forty bereaved parents were interviewed using a semistructured in-depth interview. The content analysis revealed a typology of reactions to the Arab attackers that included perceiving them as objects of anger, hate, and revenge; as demons; as negligible; and as people with whom they could identify. The way bereaved parents perceive the Arab attackers serves as a coping resource. Follow-up research to examine the efficacy of the different types of reactions towards attackers would contribute to gaining a deeper understanding of the coping process that bereaved parents experience.