Grief Counseling Research Articles

The Canvas of Grief and Loss: Painting A Way for Mental Vitality

The purpose of this systematic review was to explore the relationship between grief and loss counseling and the beneficial effects it has on mental health. By analyzing a variety of different studies and peer-reviewed journal articles that targeted bereavement topics, it revealed how grief and loss counseling is beneficial depending on the person and type of grief that has developed. Key findings include how grief impacts an individual emotionally, physically, and spiritually which reflects how the overall well-being of a person is. It is also noted how psychological wellness may impact physiological wellness. Another key finding was how complicated grief therapy is one of the most successful grief and loss counseling practices to help bereaved individuals, but other interventions were also found successful. Those other interventions consisted of emotionally focused therapy, compassion-focused therapy, family-focused therapy, interpersonal therapy, standard psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, bibliotherapy, and snow globe therapy. There are more interventions to help people than listed, but the paper specifically addressed those. However, future research needs to be completed to gain further understanding of grief and loss and how to help bereaved individuals obtain care that fits their desired needs. It is essential to take note of how everyone processes grief at their own pace which also explains why certain interventions may not be successful for every grieving individual. It is also significant to acknowledge when people can find benefit through the loss, it helps the individual move through the process of grieving which highlights the meaningful influence of finding a purpose for the pain.

Grief-Specific Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs Present-Centered Therapy: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is included as a new diagnosis in international classification systems. Treatments following a cognitive behavioral model are most effective, but comparisons with active control treatments are scarce. To examine whether integrative cognitive behavioral therapy for prolonged grief (PG-CBT) is superior to present-centered therapy (PCT). This was a rater-blinded, multicenter, randomized clinical trial (stratified by center and relationship to the deceased) with enrollment from April 2017 to May 2022. The setting included 4 university outpatient clinics in Germany. Eligible participants were aged 18 to 75 years and had PGD based on the Prolonged Grief Disorder 13 (PG-13) interview. Participants were randomized 1:1 to PG-CBT and PCT. PG-CBT focused on the exposure to the worst moment of the loss and cognitive restructuring of grief-related cognitions in combination with solution-focused and experiential methods (eg, walk to the grave exercise). PCT was adapted in session length and number to PG-CBT and focused on a supportive relationship and coping with daily problems that may have arisen from the loss or grief symptoms. All outcomes were assessed at baseline, after treatment, and 12 months after randomization at follow-up. The primary outcome was a blinded assessment of the PG-13 severity score at follow-up. Secondary outcomes were self-reported depressive, somatic, and overall psychopathological symptoms. Of 544 treatment-seeking individuals experiencing bereavement, 212 eligible participants (mean [SD] age, 51.8 [13.3] years; 173 female [82%]) with PGD based on the PG-13 interview were randomized to PG-CBT and PCT (n = 106 in each condition). In the intention-to-treat analysis, both treatments yielded high reductions in PGD severity at follow-up (PG-CBT: Cohen d = 1.64; 95% CI, 1.31-1.97; PCT: Cohen d = 1.38; 95% CI, 1.09-1.66). After treatment, participants receiving PG-CBT demonstrated significantly greater reductions in PGD severity than those receiving PCT (Cohen d = 0.31; 95% CI, 0.03-0.57). At follow-up, this effect was only visible on a trend level (Cohen d = 0.28; 95% CI, -0.02 to 0.57), whereas participants in the PG-CBT group had significantly less depressive and general psychopathological symptoms. Twenty-three participants (20%) discontinued PG-CBT treatment, and 17 participants (16%) discontinued PCT. This randomized clinical trial demonstrates that PG-CBT was superior to PCT after treatment and at follow-up with regard to comorbid symptoms. Both treatments were shown to be effective and acceptable, showing the potential for dissemination and increasing patient choice. German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS) identifier: DRKS00012317.

Grief Counseling Skill for a Surgeon

Grief Counseling Skill for a Surgeon

Why Prospective Bereavement Counseling Is Crucial for Peace-Finding After Loss.

Bereavement counseling is often offered as a referral following an adverse event or after identification of lingering grief. This article proposes the value of prospective bereavement counseling when a person can reasonably anticipate loss to support anticipatory grief and facilitate supportive continuous care planning for patients experiencing loss. This article positions bereavement counseling as care aimed at finding peace by offering a framework of dimensions of peace, opportunities to foster peace in clinically important moments, and guiding questions to facilitate this clinical outcome in health care settings.

Adapting Complicated Grief Therapy for Use With People With Intellectual Disabilities: An Action Research Study.

There is established evidence of complicated grief among people with an intellectual disability. This paper describes the process of adapting complicated grief therapy (CGT) for this population. Action research documented the adaptation of CGT. Qualitative methods included analysing meeting notes, reflective interviews with two members of the team involved in adapting the materials, and interviews with six professionals working in disability settings who reviewed the adapted materials. Key processes included adapting the standardised tools that form part of CGT and developing adapted approaches to abstract concepts related to death, dying and bereavement. Key therapeutic components such as imaginal revisiting and the role of significant others required adaptation for implementation with people with intellectual disabilities. The importance of adapting evidence-based therapies for people with intellectual disabilities is emphasised. This research provides an adapted form of an established therapy for piloting with this population.

Let's Talk About Grief: Building a Theoretical Framework for Grief Counseling with Systematic Literature Review

Grief is a universal life experience characterized by the loss of an affective bond, leading to Normal Grief responses. Grief Counseling is a specialized therapeutic intervention aimed at facilitating adaptation to the new reality and preventing complications from prolonged grief. A systematic literature review was conducted to inform the development of a curricular program for training in Grief Counseling in the Portuguese context. From Research Summit 2022.

Influence Of Grief Counselling On Psychological Wellbeing Among Widows At Africa Inland Church, Nairobi Area Church Council, Kenya

The death of a spouse can be extremely unbearable and even psychologically incapacitating. Widows face challenges that deeply affect their psychological wellbeing. The church has remained the best place for most widows in seeking consolation. This study investigated the influence of grief counselling on psychological wellbeing among widows at the Africa Inland Church, Nairobi Area Church Council, Kenya. Materials and Methods: The study was informed by the Cognitive Behavioral Theory and the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement. The study used a causal research design, and census sampling technique was adopted. The sample size of the study was 114 widows. The Brief Grief Questionnaire (BGQ), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and the Psychological Well-being Scale (PWB) were used for data collection. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: The findings showed that most (n = 66, 64.1%) of the widows were at high grief reaction, 22.4% (n = 31) of the widows had moderate grief reaction, while 13.5% (n = 15) were at low grief reaction. Also, 62.2% (n = 50) of the participants scored a high level of psychological wellbeing, 24.3% (n = 34) were at moderate level of psychological wellbeing, while 13. % (n = 28) of the participants were at low level of psychological wellbeing. Conclusion: The study established that grief counseling influenced the psychological wellbeing among widows (F- value (1, 5013.255) = .208, p = .030 ≤ 0.05). The study recommended that the leadership of the Africa Inland Church could work in collaboration with psychologists to formulate programs to reach out to the widows for psycho-education and possible coping strategies with regards to grief reaction

Experiences of family caregivers of patients with end-of-life cancer during the transition from hospital to home palliative care: a qualitative study

BackgroundThe transition of family caregivers of patients with end-of-Life cancer receiving palliative care from hospital to home is a complex and challenging process. This phase of care involves not only the physical and psychological health of the patient but also the role adaptation and emotional support of the family caregivers. To gain a deeper understanding of the various experiences and feelings during this process, we conducted a qualitative study.MethodsThis study employed a descriptive phenomenological research method. The interviews focused on the specific experiences, challenges faced, support received, and coping strategies of family caregivers of patients with end-of-life cancer during the transition from hospital to home palliative care. All data were treated with strict confidentiality, and recordings and transcriptions were made with the participants’ consent.ResultsA total of 15 family caregivers participated. Four main themes and nine sub-themes were identified: complex transition process (anxiety about uncertainty, resistance to transition), discontinuity in care (insufficient discharge guidance, lack of continuous communication mechanisms), post-discharge continuous care needs (need for home care knowledge and skills, social and emotional support, grief counselling and death education), and personal growth and gains (enhanced coping ability, increased psychological resilience).ConclusionFamily caregivers face numerous emotional, cognitive, practical, and social support challenges during the transition from hospital to home care. To improve the caregiving experience and quality of life, appropriate training and support should be provided to better meet the caregivers’ needs.

Perinatal Grief Counseling and Its Effect on Grief Levels in Women Who Underwent Pregnancy Termination: A Comparative Experimental Study.

This study was designed as a two-group pre-test post-test comparative experimental study to examine the effects of grief counseling on perinatal grief levels in women who underwent pregnancy termination before discharge from the clinic. This study was conducted with 70 women who underwent medical termination of pregnancy. The intervention group (n = 35) received perinatal grief care, while the control group (n = 35) received only routine hospital care. In this study, the Introductory Information Form, Perinatal Grief Scale, and evaluation form of the care received were completed. While the perinatal grief level of the intervention group decreased after the application of grief care, a significant difference between the groups was detected only in women with a history of medical termination according to obstetric characteristics (p < .05). The findings obtained from this study showed that perinatal grief care support decreased grief scores on perinatal grief instruments and their sub-dimensions in the intervention group.

Improving Grief Counseling: Enhancing the Education and Confidence of Psychology Graduate Students

Most therapists do not receive formal graduate training in grief counseling and may rely on outdated knowledge and questionable skills when working with grieving clients (Dodd et al., 2022; Jankauskaite et al., 2021). This study aimed to develop a virtual intervention to educate psychology graduate students about grief counseling and evaluate whether this training can increase knowledge in grief and grief counseling and self-efficacy in working with grieving individuals. This mixed-methods study compared participants in three conditions (full video intervention, partial video intervention, and control). When controlling for prior grief counseling training and experience, those randomized to the full video intervention had higher grief and grief counseling knowledge and self-efficacy in working with bereaved individuals than those in the partial intervention and control groups. Further, qualitative results highlighted the assessment and treatment approaches that therapists-in-training would use with a bereaved client across conditions. Overall, the full intervention is a feasible and efficacious way to teach psychology doctoral students about grief counseling and increase their confidence in working with bereaved clients. Future research considerations and recommendations are discussed.

Bereavement guilt among young adults impacted by caregivers' cancer: Associations with attachment style, experiential avoidance, and psychological flexibility.

This paper focuses on the experiences of bereavement guilt among young adults bereaved by a caregiver's cancer, examining associations with attachment style, experiential avoidance, and psychological flexibility with the aim of informing psychosocial interventions for this population. Ninety-seven young adults (18-25 years) bereaved by a parent/guardian's cancer completed an online survey, including measures of bereavement guilt, attachment style, experiential avoidance, and psychological flexibility. Mediation analyses explored the associations between attachment style (anxious, avoidant) and bereavement guilt, and if these associations were mediated by experiential avoidance or psychological flexibility. Bereavement guilt was significantly positively associated with anxious, but not avoidant, attachment to the deceased; the relationship between anxious attachment and bereavement guilt was partially mediated by experiential avoidance. Bereavement guilt was also negatively associated with psychological flexibility and engagement with bereavement counseling. Given the limited literature on cancer-related bereavement in young adulthood, this study offers important theoretical and clinical insights into factors associated with more complex aspects of grief in this population. Specifically, this work identified that anxious attachment is associated with ongoing bereavement complications in the years following the death of a caregiver to cancer, with experiential avoidance partially mediating this relationship. While further research is needed to better understand the interaction between these factors and other related constructs, such as psychological flexibility, these findings may be helpful in selecting therapeutic approaches to use with this population.

"You might be nice, but where you take me, they're not gonna be": Preferences for field-based post-overdose interventions.

Emergency medical services (EMS) systems are piloting interventions to respond to overdoses with additional services such as leave-behind naloxone and medication for opioid use disorder, but little is known about the perspectives of people who use drugs (PWUD) on these interventions being delivered by EMS during an overdose response. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research guided the development of data collection tools, the analytic strategy and the organisation of results. A community engaged method was used which included both academically trained researchers and community trained researchers who are also PWUD. This study used semi-structured interviews to gather data from 13 PWUD in King County, Washington in June 2022. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The people interviewed for this study viewed EMS distribution of leave-behind naloxone and field-based buprenorphine favourably. They viewed EMS facilitation of hepatitis C virus and HIV testing in the field less favourably and were concerned about stigmas associated with those results. Additional themes emerged regarding: the need for different approaches to post-overdose care; the need for new services, including post-overdose trauma counselling and an alternative destination to the emergency department; and the harms of law enforcement presence at overdose responses. This study found strong support for leave-behind naloxone and field-initiated buprenorphine. Further training for EMS should include trauma-informed care and strategies to address burnout and increase compassion. Alternatives to the emergency department as a post-overdose destination are needed. These strategies should be considered by jurisdictions revising overdose response protocols.

Efficacy of Therapeutic Photography for Resolving Symptom Coherence in Prolonged Grief

Prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is a complex and debilitating condition that arises from the inability to adapt to the loss of a significant individual. Symptom coherence, meaning-making, and emotional processing are key symptom domains for individuals experiencing prolonged grief. The integration of photographic interventions within grief counseling practices offers a unique and powerful tool for emotional expression, emotional processing, and overall grief management. This literature review aims to synthesize current research on the efficacy of this innovative approach, primarily focusing on how photographic interventions impact symptom coherency, psychological healing mechanisms, and psychological healing.

Forming our grief rhythm: The relational window of tolerance for bereaved parents.

The shared loss of a child can present challenges to couple relationships as both partners attempt to cope with their own grief and their partner's grief. In this longitudinal qualitative study, five bereaved parent couples participated in 13 total interviews, revealing coregulatory interactions surrounding their shared loss. Using thematic coding and grounded theory analysis, their reflections were organized into three interrelated process themes: regulating self, regulating other, and forming our grief rhythm. This article explores the complexity of the last theme "forming our grief rhythm" in-depth, and a new theoretical orientation, the relational window of tolerance, is introduced to examine how couples coregulate both fragile and stable states within their shared grief. The reflections of bereaved parents indicated that prolonged "dual fragile states" and prolonged "imbalanced states" may hinder relationship quality. In order to regain relationship stability, couples learned to trade off supporting one another and/or to resonate with one another in their shared pain. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed, focusing especially on how to integrate individual and relational needs into grief therapy frameworks.

Older Bereaved Individuals’ Experiences of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Complicated Grief Reactions: A Qualitative Multistage Focus Group Approach

Bereavement is particularly common in old age. A small proportion of bereaved people develop complicated grief reactions (CGR) characterized by elevated symptoms of depression, prolonged grief disorder, anxiety, and/or posttraumatic stress. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for CGR (CBTgrief) is found to be an effective treatment. Detailed knowledge about older adults’ experiences of CBTgrief is needed to optimize treatment and to give recommendations to practice. To explore older adults’ experience of CBTgrief to gain insight into elements that were helpful or less helpful. Four multistage focus group interviews were conducted with nine older adults who lost a partner and received CBTgrief and three researchers. Five participants received group therapy and four individual therapy (mean age = 69.67 years, 89% women). The participants found exposure exercises, psychoeducation in grief, and letter writing particularly helpful. The participants requested options for family sessions, a combined individual/group format, and follow-up sessions. Awareness of potential memory problems and adapting to new practical tasks should receive greater focus in therapy. This study gives important insights into older adults’ experiences of CBTgrief and evaluates the helpful and less helpful elements in grief therapy. This may guide improvements in the treatment of bereaved older adults with CGR.

Efficacy of Therapeutic Letters for Grieving Peers After Teen Suicide

Adolescents grieving the loss of a peer to suicide experience a significant decline in their quality of life. Among the various approaches undertaken to facilitate emotional processing and resilience in these adolescents, therapeutic letter writing has emerged as a promising avenue. This literature review seeks to examine the efficacy of therapeutic letters as an intervention for grief following teen suicide. Specifically, this review examines the impact of this method on emotional processing, meaning-making, and long-term adjustment to the loss. The review also considers the potential challenges and ethical concerns associated with implementing therapeutic letters, including issues of confidentiality and the cognitive capacities of adolescents. In conclusion, this literature review highlights the significant promise and complex nuances of using therapeutic letters for adolescence grief counseling. As clinicians strive to offer more comprehensive and compassionate care to adolescents dealing with loss due to teen suicide, therapeutic letters can assist them in doing so.

Mental health and humanitarian crisis: Moral stress in trauma therapy.

This articleoffers a narrative analysis of the contributing factors of moral distress (MD) and moral injury (MI) among mental health clinicians working amidst humanitarian crises. It discusses the impact of moral stress on therapeutic relationships in mental health trauma. The articleoriginated from the author's experience developing a peer-to-peer support program at a nongovernmental organization (NGO) and conducting peer-to-peer support for mental health clinicians and healthcare providers in Ukraine and Turkey. A significant amount of literature has documented the detrimental effects of MD and MI on mental health, job sustainability, and resilience of healthcare providers and first responders. The negative effects of MD and MI are particularly relevant in trauma counseling, where clinicians must draw upon the use of self to develop therapeutic relationships with their clients. This process demands a high level of moral reasoning and self-awareness, which can be severely tested under the morally challenging conditions of a humanitarian crisis. There is an imperative need to deepen our understanding and to swiftly address the factors that precipitate MD and MI in mental health clinicians working in crisis zones. By doing so, we aim to bolster their resilience and the enduring nature of their commitment to help and save others. This, in turn, will not only contribute to saving more lives but also enable those who are affected by trauma to flourish in the aftermath of their experiences.

Comparing Public Perceptions of Child and Adult Grief Responses to Familial Incarceration.

Children of incarcerated parents may grieve this loss, yet perceptions of their grief are understudied. Using vignettes varying by age (adult/child) and grief response (prolonged/resilient), we examined differences between perceptions of adults and children grieving parental incarceration. Participants rated grief response appropriateness, comfort providing support, and grief therapy recommendations for the grieving person in the vignette. Participants perceived resilience as more appropriate than prolonged grief [F (1, 224) = 9.02, p = .003, η2 = .04]. Age did not predict outcomes. Recommending grief therapy was higher for prolonged grief, yet 53% of participants with resilient vignettes recommended the person should seek grief therapy, which is concerning given possible iatrogenic effects. Thus, laypeople may have stigma toward individuals grieving parental incarceration, regardless of age.

Using ChatGPT as a grief counseling tool in end-stage cancer diagnosis

With the advent of Artificial Intelligence, the healthcare system around the world has a golden opportunity to improve the quality of care and efficiently enforce the management of patients. It is the need of the hour to explore and learn what AI, and by extension, the Large Language Models like ChatGPT, can do to make the process of healing a better experience.

Promising for patients or deeply disturbing? The ethical and legal aspects of deepfake therapy

Deepfakes are hyper-realistic but fabricated videos created with the use of artificial intelligence. In the context of psychotherapy, the first studies on using deepfake technology are emerging, with potential applications...