Problem-focused, integrated psychotherapy for complicated grief

Abstract

Therapy for complicated grief is predicated on a thorough working knowledge of normal grief and its maladaptive complications. Knowledge of attachment theory, traumatic stress theory, and theoretical concepts of depression and anxiety disorders are also particularly useful. This background is used for psychoeducational purposes and integrated with therapeutic strategies from established psychotherapies. To illustrate this approach, the authors present a case of complicated grief in a woman whose mother and son died within 10 months. She was treated with brief, problem-focused, integrated psychotherapy aimed at alleviating symptoms or clarifying underlying psychological processes engendered by the losses. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.