TRAUMA AND BEREAVEMENT: CONCEPTUAL AND CLINICAL ISSUES REVOLVING AROUND RELATIONSHIPS

The article re-examines trauma and bereavement and the category of loss considered to be traumatic bereavement. It is argued that the perspective of the relation to the deceased is an insufficiently acknowledged source of traumatic disruption following bereavement. The significance of the relational...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Death studies 2003-10, Vol.27 (8), p.667-690
Main Authors: RUBIN, SIMON SHIMSHON, MALKINSON, RUTH, WITZTUM, ELIEZER
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Bereavement
Death
Grief
Health technology assessment
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Israel
Male
Stress Disorders, Traumatic
Stress, Psychological - psychology
Studies
Trauma
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Summary:The article re-examines trauma and bereavement and the category of loss considered to be traumatic bereavement. It is argued that the perspective of the relation to the deceased is an insufficiently acknowledged source of traumatic disruption following bereavement. The significance of the relational aspect in bereavement is present in the paradigm of the Two-Track Model of Bereavement (S. Rubin, 1981, 1999). The implications of this approach are examined in the case of a soldier exposed to trauma and death. The case is examined from a traditional trauma perspective stressing exposure to life threat and again from a perspective stressing the significance of the relationship to the deceased. An examination of the different intervention strategies and their outcome lends support to the importance of the relational aspects in this case of trauma and supports the use of the Two-Track Model of Bereavement. The location of trauma as basic to the experience of all bereavement for its impact on the reorganization vis á vis the representation of the loved one now deceased is considered as fundamental to the trauma of all bereavement. Theadditional contribution of bereavement occurring under conditions of life threat (traumatic situations) is an important feature potentially impacting the bereavementprocess, but it is not what makes bereavement traumatic per se. An additional source of trauma in bereavement, occurring when the previous representation or introject of the deceased is shattered, is considered for its status as an additional source of complication in the traumas of bereavement.
ISSN:0748-1187
1091-7683
DOI:10.1080/713842342