Behavioral Activation for Pathological Grief

The death of a significant other often entails far-reaching changes in individuals' life that can contribute to pathological grief responses. This article reviews 3 prominent theories of grief resolution, highlights common factors proposed to be associated with pathological grief responses, and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Death studies 2013-11, Vol.37 (10), p.913-936
Main Authors: Papa, Anthony, Rummel, Clair, Garrison-Diehn, Christina, Sewell, M. Todd
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Attitude to Death
Avoidance
Behavior
Counseling - methods
Death
Defense Mechanisms
Female
Grief
Health technology assessment
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Male
Models, Psychological
Psychological aspects
Self Concept
Social Support
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The death of a significant other often entails far-reaching changes in individuals' life that can contribute to pathological grief responses. This article reviews 3 prominent theories of grief resolution, highlights common factors proposed to be associated with pathological grief responses, and suggests that behavioral activation (Martell, Addis, & Jacobson, 2001 ) may address the factors contributing to pathological grieving. Behavioral activation applied to pathological grief may address loss related disruption by engaging bereaved individuals in their social environment and increasing contact with positive reinforcers that maintain sense of self. Two case studies are provided to demonstrate how behavioral activation can be adapted to remediate environmental disengagement, avoidance, and rumination typical of pathological grief responses.
ISSN:0748-1187
1091-7683
DOI:10.1080/07481187.2012.692459