The impact of expressive storytelling on grieving: how narrative writing can help us actively and effectively process and reconcile the loss of a loved one

Abstract

ABSTRACT After my father's death, writing became a tool to alleviate my suffering. Using evocative autoethnography, I examined if written, first-person storytelling that leaned on expressive writing techniques could help me actively process and effectively move through my complicated mourning. My data consisted of 41 stories (published as The Revelations of Eapen) that disclosed the cultural interactions of bereavement while narrating the wildness of prolonged grief. Removing myself as the protagonist, I looked at the writing through a scientific lens. I discovered the writing was constructed using two central themes, targeting bereavement: the art of storytelling and the four cornerstones of grief stories. This article explores my analysis, providing a framework for therapeutic storytelling that can be used to reconcile grief.