Grief: The Mourning After

Catherine M. Sanders, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and certified grief therapist living in Colchester, Vermont, specializing in individuals who have suffered a traumatic loss. She has done extensive research into the effects of bereavement experienced by both individuals and families. Her work in the field dates back to 1968 when she began construction of the Grief Experience Inventory (GEI), a multidimensional measure of the grief experience and process. The GEI is utilized in research and clinical situations not only in this country but internationally as well. Currently, Dr. Sanders is Executive Director and Founder of the Center for the Study of Separation and Loss, a clearinghouse for the GEI. After completing her PhD at the University of South Florida, she founded and was director of the Loss and Bereavement Center where she consulted and provided training programs for professionals, conducted research, and taught graduate programs in death and dying at the University. She received both preand postdoctoral research awards from the National Institute of Mental Health to study the effects of bereavement on adults. In addition, she helped develop a bereavement training program for hospice nurses. She has written extensively in the area of bereavement and is the author of Grief: The Mourning After (Wiley), which was chosen by the American Library Association as one of the outstanding academic books of the year. She has also written Surviving Grief and Learning to Live Again (Wiley).

BACKGROUND AND THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS.

Grieving.

Theoretical Foundations: The Evolution of BereavementTheories.

Sanders' Integrative Theory of Bereavement.

PHASES OF BEREAVEMENT.

The First Phase: Shock--The Impact of Grief.

The Second Phase: Awareness of Loss.

The Third Phase: Conservation-Withdrawal.

The Fourth Phase: Healing--The Turning Point.

The Fifth Phase: Renewal.

THE MULTIDIMENSIONALITY OF GRIEF.

Personality Variables.

Social-Situational Variables.

Early Childhood Impact.

Death and the Family Constellation.

COMPLICATED GRIEF.

Suicide, Homicide, and AIDS-Related Death.

TYPES OF BEREAVEMENT.

The Death of a Child.

The Death of a Spouse.

The Death of a Parent.

RITUALS OF LOSS.

Rites of Passage.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS.

Therapeutic Approaches.

Care of the Caregiver.

The Lessons of Grief.

References.

Index.