Complicated grief and the reconstruction of meaning: Conceptual and empirical contributions to a cognitive-constructivist model
Grief; Meaning
2006
Neimeyer RA
Clinical Psychology: Science And Practice
2006
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2850.2006.00016.x" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1111/j.1468-2850.2006.00016.x</a>
Continuing bonds and reconstructing meaning: Mitigating complications in bereavement
bereavement; Meaning; complications
2007
Neimeyer RA; Baldwin SA; Gillies J
Death Studies
2007
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/07481180600848322" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1080/07481180600848322</a>
Defining the new abnormal: Scientific and social construction of complicated grief
Grief; social construction
2005
Neimeyer RA
Omega
2005
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.2190/31rv-dbpg-q1m3-peda" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.2190/31rv-dbpg-q1m3-peda</a>
Grieving the loss of a child in times of COVID-19
Bereavement; Parents; Family Members; Couples; Grief; COVID-19; Pandemics; Child Loss
Given the massive influences of COVID-19 restrictions on people in nearly all nations, we conducted an in-depth qualitative study of 15 Belgian parents who had lost a child prior to the pandemic in order to understand its impact on their ongoing bereavement. Analysis of focus group sessions and couples interviews distinguished between experiences related to the pandemic and those related to resulting governmental restrictions (e.g., lockdown, social distancing). We theoretically framed our findings in terms of the dual processes of orienting to loss versus restoring life, reconstructing meaning in bereavement, and relationally attuning as a couple to a shared loss. We found that the COVID period accentuated all losses, awakening the parents’ grief for their own loss and their empathy for others. At the same time, they experienced limited opportunities for restoration-oriented distraction through connection with familiar activities and relationships beyond the family. Control or choice in this process of oscillation between orienting to grief versus ongoing life was impaired by the pandemic, as parents struggled to find a new dynamic balance to compensate for the risk of continuous engagement with reminders of their loss. Most notable was their close proximity as a couple, while being at a greater distance from the social network. The continuous attunement process between partners and family members played out in a process of drawing close and interposing distance, of grieving apart and together, of talking about grief and holding silence. We close by reflecting on the implications of our findings for clinical practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
Hooghe A; Claeys A; Thompson B; Neimeyer RA; Rober P
Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice
2021
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1037/cfp0000180" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1037/cfp0000180</a>
Mourning and meaning
Grief; bereavement; mourning
Viewed in an expanded frame, the phenomena of grief and bereavement call for analysis in sociological, psychological, and psychiatric terms. In this article, the authors argue that a common theme in these accounts is that of the meaning of loss as expressed in both individual and collective attempts at adaptation. At a societal level, communal rituals, discursive practices, and local cultures provide resources for integrating the significance of loss for survivors and regulating the emotional chaos of bereavement. At an individual and interpersonal level, survivors struggle to assimilate the loss into their existing self-narratives, which are sometimes profoundly challenged by traumatic bereavement. Complicated grief can therefore be viewed as the inability to reconstruct a meaningful personal reality, an outcome to which individuals with insecure working models of self and relationships are especially vulnerable. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that grief can promopt personal growth as well as despair, augmenting rather than only reducing the survivor's sense of meaning.
2002
Neimeyer RA; Prigerson HG; Davies B
American Behavioral Scientist
2002
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/000276402236676" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1177/000276402236676</a>
Narrative strategies in grief therapy
Grief; narrative; Human; Meaning
The field of grief therapy is currently in a state of conceptual revolution, opening the prospect of reconfiguring our understanding of the human experience of loss along constructivist lines. In this article I outline some of the tenets of such an approach, proposing that the reconstruction of a world of meaning is the central process in grieving. I then present several narrative strategies for assisting bereaved people in making meaning of loss, and discuss indications, illustrations, variations, and precautions pertinent to each.
1999
Neimeyer RA
Journal Of Constructivist Psychology
1999
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/107205399266226" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1080/107205399266226</a>
Problems and prospects in constructivist psychotherapy
1997
Neimeyer RA
Journal Of Constructivist Psychology
1997
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/10720539708404611" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1080/10720539708404611</a>
Regret and unfinished business in parents bereaved by cancer: A mixed methods study
caregivers; decision-making; grief; neoplasm; pediatric; Regret
BACKGROUND: Prior research has demonstrated that the presence of regret and unfinished business is associated with poorer adjustment in bereavement. Though there is a growing literature on these constructs among caregivers of adult patients, the literature on regret and unfinished business in bereaved parents has been limited. AIM: The aim of this study was to examine regret and unfinished business in parents bereaved by cancer, as well as their associations with caregiving experiences and prolonged grief. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional mixed methods study that utilized self-report questionnaires with open-ended items. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: The multisite study took place at a tertiary cancer hospital and pediatric cancer clinical research institution. Participants were 118 parents (mothers = 82, fathers = 36) who lost a child aged 6 months to 25 years to cancer between 6 months and 6 years prior. RESULTS: Results showed that 73% of the parents endorsed regret and 33% endorsed unfinished business, both of which were more common among mothers than fathers (p 0.05). Parents were on average moderately distressed by their regrets and unfinished business, and both regret-related and unfinished business-related distress were associated with distress while caregiving and prolonged grief symptoms. CONCLUSION: Findings have implications for how providers work with families, including increasing treatment decision-making support, supporting parents in speaking to their child about illness, and, in bereavement, validating choices made. Grief interventions that use cognitive-behavioral and meaning-centered approaches may be particularly beneficial.
Lichtenthal WG; Roberts KE; Catarozoli C; Schofield E; Holland JM; Fogarty JJ; Coats TC; Barakat LP; Baker JN; Brinkman TM; Neimeyer RA; Prigerson HG; Zaider T; Breitbart W; Wiener L
Palliative Medicine
2020
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<a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/0269216319900301" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1177/0269216319900301</a>
Research on grief and bereavement: Evolution and revolution
Grief; Research; bereavement
2004
Neimeyer RA
Death Studies
2004
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/07481180490461179" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1080/07481180490461179</a>
Searching for the meaning of meaning: Grief therapy and the process of reconstruction
Grief; Death; Counseling; Time; bereavement; knowledge; Meaning
A comprehensive quantitative review of published randomized controlled outcome studies of grief counseling and therapy suggests that such interventions are typically ineffective, and perhaps even deleterious, at least for persons experiences a normal bereavement. On the other hand, there is some evidence that grief therapy is more beneficial and safer for those who have been traumatically bereaved. Beginning with this sobering appraisal, this article considers the findings of C. G. Davis, C. B. Wortman, D. R. Lehman, and R. C. Silver (this issue) and their implications for a meaning reconstruction approach to grief therapy, arguing that an expanded conception of meaning is necessary to provide a stronger basis for clinical intervention.
2000
Neimeyer RA
Death Studies
2000
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Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1080/07481180050121480" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1080/07481180050121480</a>
Trauma, healing, and the narrative emplotment of loss
Grief; Stress; Health; narrative
Although constructivism has generated much theoretical discussion in the mental health disciplines, its implications for clinic conceptualization, assessment, and treatment have been less systematically explored. The authors attempt to remedy this shortcoming by extending a narrative account of post-traumatic stress and illustrating its applicability in the context of an extended case study. They conclude that a narrative perspective on the traumatic disruption of self-identity holds promise for clinicians at both the heuristic and applied levels.
1996
Neimeyer RA; Stewart Alan E
Families In Society
1996
Article information provided for research and reference use only. PedPalASCNET does not hold any rights over the resource listed here. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1606/1044-3894.933" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">10.1606/1044-3894.933</a>