Reflections on a rose: a story of loss and longing

This case study discusses the psychotherapy of an older woman who presented with anxiety and depression decades after a heartbreaking loss in childhood. Maggie's story recalls a lifetime of longing and searching for her father, whose death was denied by those closest to her. Religious proscriptions contravened the nine-year-old's accepting the reality of his death and understanding her own intense feelings. Masked, unresolved, complicated grieving punctuated her life. Maggie entered therapy as an adult confounded by death. "Creative integrationism" therapy included traditional grief work, guided imagery, journal writing, and poetry. As Maggie began to confront the deaths of loved ones, she explored the meaning of life and became more fully engaged in living. Several years after termination, Maggie revisited her journey in therapy and shared her reflections with the authors. This study illustrates the need for a grieving child to accomplish the tasks of mourning; the healing role of ritual; and the role of the psychiatric nurse to facilitate grieving even when the profound and unresolved loss comes to the fore after more than half a century has passed.