Is it True That "There are no Right or Wrong Ways to Grieve"?

Abstract

This article explores some of the implications of the often-heard saying that, "There are no right or wrong ways to grieve." In order to do so, this article offers some reflections on the key phrases that are involved implicitly or explicitly in this advice: loss, bereavement, grief, grieving, and mourning. On that basis, this article examines a series of claims: Are there actually no right ways to grieve?; Is there no single right way to grieve?; Are there no wrong ways to grieve? These analyses are enriched by incorporating some of the new understandings of loss, grief, and mourning that have emerged in the professional literature in recent years from research and scholarship. The conclusion offers lessons that should be learned and that should not be learned from the advice that, "There are no right or wrong ways to grieve".