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Grief work, disclosure and counseling: do they help the bereaved?
Wolfgang Stroebe1, Henk Schut, Margaret S Stroebe
1Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.140, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands. W.Stroebe@fss.uu.nl
Clinical Psychology Review
|May 26, 2005
Summary
Expressing emotions does not help bereaved individuals adjust to loss. Research shows no evidence that emotional disclosure or support improves outcomes in normal bereavement, challenging common assumptions.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Grief Research
- Mental Health
Background:
- Bereavement increases morbidity and mortality risks.
- Effective strategies for mitigating prolonged suffering in grief are needed.
- Commonly accepted theories suggest emotional expression aids adjustment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the validity of assumptions about emotional expression in bereavement adjustment.
- To review evidence on the impact of expressing and sharing emotions on grief outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review of research across four domains: social support, emotional disclosure, experimentally induced emotional disclosure, and grief intervention.
- Analysis of studies examining the link between emotional expression and adjustment to loss.
Main Results:
- No evidence found supporting the hypothesis that emotional disclosure facilitates adjustment in normal bereavement.
- Findings were consistent across all reviewed research domains.
Conclusions:
- Current assumptions regarding the necessity of emotional expression for grief adjustment lack empirical support.
- Further research is needed to understand effective interventions for complicated grief and to challenge prevailing theories.