The National Archive of Grief Support Studies
The National Archive of Grief Support Studies(NAGSS) database provides bibliographical information and summaries of recent articles selected for their relevance to grief and bereavement service providers. The articles that are summarized are selected from scholarly, peer-reviewed journals and are intended to highlight key concepts as well as provide a brief statement of implications for service providers. Bibliographical information may be used to obtain the original article.
Complicated Grief and the Trend Toward Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Authors:
Matthews, Laura T.
Marwit, Samuel J.
Source:
Death Studies: 2004. Volume 28, pp. 849-863.
Summary
This article reviews the research on the use of cognitive-behavioral therapy to address grief. Specifically, the author discusses the use of the Dual-Process Model (DPM). The DPM is a bereavement coping model that encourages the bereaved to focus at times on loss-oriented coping, and at other times on restoration-oriented coping. Loss-oriented coping involves confronting the loss and expressing feelings about the loss. Restoration-oriented coping involves addressing the tasks required to reorganize life to accommodate the loss. The concept of oscillation, switching back and forth between loss-oriented coping and restoration-oriented coping, is included in the DPM model. Oscillation is often left out of other techniques. Cognitive-behavioral therapy seems a promising technique when dealing with the restoration of meaning in complicated grief. Cognitive processes are suited to the task of meaning-making associated with a death.
Key word: cognitive, cope, complicated, intervention, pathology, prolonged, trauma
Service Provider Implications
This article points to studies that stress the importance of both confronting grief and also addressing the need to move forward into a new life. Clinicians can benefit from recognizing the importance of both cognitive and emotional processing in grief therapy.
