Bereavement care: A widower's use of stories and bibliotherapy

Abstract

This essay is both personal and professional. I write as a grieving husband and a family and grief educator who uses literary resources (bibliotherapy) as prompts for grieving, coping, and perspective. In these pages, I will interweave my personal grief-writing process with literary resources utilized as a grief educator. My intent is two-fold: to illuminate how words, especially metaphors, have informed and helped me as a widower AND to shed light on bibliotherapy as a resource for grief and bereavement care. Grieving work as a professional is one thing; it is another when you are the griever. Hence, countertransference will also be addressed. Limited commentary, research or theory will be included in this practice-focused article so that readers can ponder use of bibliotherapeutic practices for bereavement care, especially for widows and widowers.