Examination of children’s grief experiences through storytelling-based systemic intervention: Case study

Abstract

This study explored the experiences of children whose parents died and who were in the mourning process through storytelling-based systemic intervention. The study employed the multiple case study design and the study group consisted of six children aged 7–12 years attending elementary and middle schools in Van, Turkey. The criterion sampling method was used to form the study group. The criteria for participating in the study were the child being between the ages of 7–12, the child losing one of the parents, the child having psychological support request from the school psychological counseling service for him/her, and the child losing his/her mother or father at least six months before the study. The semi-structured interview method was used to collect data in the study since storytelling-based systemic intervention developed for this study includes distinct stages, questions to be directed to the counselee at each stage, and steps that can be flexible according to the counselee’s situation. 11 interviews were held with each child regularly every week. These interviews aimed to understand what the children experience regarding grief through the “storytelling-based systemic intervention”. The study data were analyzed by deductive content analysis and qualitative comparative analysis. What the children experienced during the intervention was presented based on the therapeutic unique experiences of White and Epston (1990), who emphasized narrative therapy and social constructs. Under the general category of “emotional constructions regarding the past unique outcomes”, various subcategories were formed, namely “emotional oscillations between life/death”, “experiencing many emotions together during the grief process”, “the revealing of injuries associated with losses and the responsive change of hurt”, “feeling sensitivity towards the surviving parent”, “feeling hurt by others about parental loss”, “feeling empathetic towards people experiencing similar grief narratives” and “revealing unfinished emotions with the dead”.