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Grief therapy

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Overview

Grief therapy is a kind of psychotherapy used to treat severe or complicated traumatic grief reactions,[1], usually due to the loss of a close person, by separation or death, sometimes associated with community disaster. The goal of grief therapy is to identify and solve the psychological and emotional problems which appeared in consequence of this. They may appear as behavioural or bodily (physical) changes, psychosomatic disturbances, delayed or extreme mourning, conflictual problems or sudden and unexpected mourning (such as in accidents like automobile or airplane crashes, assassination, etc.).

Grief therapy may be available as individual or group therapy, and is usually very effective. A common area where grief therapy has been extensivey applied is to parents of cancer patients.

References

References

  1. Jacobs, Shelby, Carolyn Mazure, and Holly Prigerson. “Diagnostic Criteria for Traumatic Grief.” Death Studies 24 (2000):185–199
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