Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Animation As Therapy For Mental Health Treatment Across Diverse Populations And Contexts, A Literature Review, Daneile Tabana

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Scientific research has explored and identified the beneficial relationship between health and creative expression, recognizing art therapy as a source of healing. Animation has been newly recognized as an art therapy medium with potential for therapeutic healing and increased psychological well-being. This review of the literature on animation therapy explores the history of the modality’s interaction with the population observed and the effects of animation on the cognitive processes, discusses current theoretical orientations and treatment options for treating a range of conditions that affect mood, thinking, and behavior with animation therapy, and considers culturally informed and client-centered practices alongside traditional …

Narratives Of Grief And Loss From The Children Who Lost A Parent On 9/11, Ryan Sliwak

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Limited research exists on the grief experiences of children who lost a parent on 9/11, particularly how these children evolve in their grief process, including their comprehension of the loss and their evolving attachment to the deceased parent (Kaplow et al., 2018; Alvis et al., 2022). Existing frameworks often assume post-traumatic reactions without fully considering the nuances of grief experiences for these children (Chemtob, 2007; Hoven, 2005).

Two research questions guided this study: (a) How does the pre-loss relationship with the parent influence the ongoing internal relationship with the deceased parent? (b) How does maintaining an internal relationship with the …

Expressive Arts Therapy And Oncology Care Teams, Edwige Raimbault

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review offers an overview of the mental health of oncology care team members, medical professionals as well as oncology floor hospital staff, and the therapeutic benefits of expressive therapies on that specific population. Working on an oncology floor means interacting with patients and their loved ones at a time of utmost suffering, uncertainty, and possible death. This environment presents risks of burnout, compassion fatigue, and a sense of isolation for the medical and non-medical professionals working with cancer patients. The results of qualitative, quantitative, and art-based studies conducted pre-and post-Covid-19 pandemic show multi-faceted and multi-layered positive impacts of …

Expressive Arts Therapy And Grief: A Literature Review, Christina Schell Pate

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Grief is a natural human response to loss. This could be the loss of a loved one, a lost identity, a divorce, or the loss of a pet. Just as there are many types of loss, there are also many types of grief. Grief can present as uncomplicated or it can be traumatic, anticipatory, or cumulative. Grief can also develop into prolonged grief disorder as seen in the most updated version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-RT). Theorists from Sigmund Freud to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross to George Bonanno have developed a variety of grief models (O’Connor, 2019). …

The Experience Of Grief, Coping, And Community In Black Families And Friends Of Homicide Victims, Rachel A. Jenkins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Black families and friends of homicide victims (BFFHV) are left behind to grieve and cope with the traumatic loss of a loved one to homicide. The evidence reveals a risk of developing emotional and psychological issues for the survivors. The purpose of this study was to explore four phenomena the BFFHV experience: (a) the experience with local law enforcement and the courts during the investigation of the homicide, (b) the experience of grieving over traumatic loss, (c) the experience of coping with traumatic loss, and (d) their current relationship with the community. Heider’s attribution theory was used to guide the …

Adolescent Bereavement And Resilient Outcomes: A Comprehensive Analysis, Jenna Holmes

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explores the complexities of adolescent bereavement and factors that improve resilience. Bereavement in adolescence is particularly difficult and complicated because it occurs during a crucial developmental period, and maladaptive coping during this time has been linked to many negative outcomes. This review covers three different theoretical models (i.e., Model of Adolescent Grieving, Multidimensional Grief Theory, and the Contextual Resilience Model for Bereaved Adolescents) of adolescent bereavement and compares their strengths and weaknesses. The importance of promoting resilience and healthy bereavement is underscored, followed by a discussion of how the type of loss (e.g., parent, sibling, and friend), different …

The Way Of Eldering: Spiritual Maturation Across The Lifespan, Kineret Yardena

Social Work Theses

Background and Objectives

People in midlife are often encumbered with uncertainty about how to transition toward later life without regret. Many sense the need to spiritually mature as they age, but lack practical guidance. Elders are those in later life who have made this transition and who have become sources of wisdom, nurturance and guidance for those younger than they. This phenomenological study explores the spiritual maturation journey of eldering.

Research Design and Methods

Ten people who were identified as elders took part in intuitive life story interviews. Using Story Method, this phenomenological study sought to identify key themes in …

Exploring The Relationship And Impact Of Islamic Religious Coping On The Meaning Made Following The Loss Of A Loved One, Yara Ihab Am Ali

Theses

Coping after a loss of a loved one can play out differently for different individuals. The existing literature examines coping with loss and bereavement, but it is often with specific types of loss, and usually with western populations or religions. This paper examines the impact of Islamic religious coping onto the meaning made (integration of stressful event) following the loss of a loved one to death, in a diverse ethnic background sample population of various Muslims who have experienced loss in the past 5 years. The study focuses specifically on positive religious coping, and whether it would have a positive …

The Bereaved Songwriters' Project, Laura A. Figueroa

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to evaluate bereaved individuals’ responses to a reflective songwriting program intervention (RSPI). The purposive and convenient sample included 30 bereaved adults who were members of the teaching staff at a private, Christian, K-12 school in the southeastern United States and/or past or present members of the church with which the school was affiliated. The researcher developed a simple and succinct RSPI in which study participants were prompted to create an original musical piece using personal reflections, memories, and descriptions in song form to commemorate a deceased loved one. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being …

More Than “Just A Friend”: Exploring The Therapeutic Needs Of Adult Survivors Of A Suicide Loss Of A Friend, Kat R. Mcconnell

Dissertations (1934 -)

Individuals who are bereaved by the suicide loss of a loved one (also known as “suicide survivors”) face high rates of complicated grief, mental illness, social isolation, experiences of stigma, and suicide attempts. While suicide loss therapy (or “postvention”) attracts many individuals grieving familial suicides, those impacted by the suicide loss of a close friend are underrepresented in both individual and group therapies, despite indications that friend suicide survivors are impacted at an equivalent level and frequency to family members. Using a constructivist grounded theory method, this study aimed to investigate the lived experiences and therapeutic needs of 8 adults …

Children’S Experiences Of Parental Death, “Lost But Still Remembered”, Nour Salem

Dissertations, 2020-current

Parental death is prevalent during childhood, and the emotional, social, and behavioral effects on children’s development are well-documented. Although there is extensive literature on grief in children, most studies on children’s grief have obtained data about children’s experiences though collateral interviews with parents or caregivers, from adults who lost a parent as a child, or through quantitative measures with children and caregivers. Few studies have implemented a qualitative exploration of parental death by asking bereaved children. The objective of the current study was to involve parentally bereaved children in responding to the research question, “what is it like to lose …

Older Women’S Stories Of Covid-19 Loss: Communicated Narrative Sense-Making Through Photography, Anne Walker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The diverse array of challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic make it difficult to assess the full impact of this global health crisis. More than 300,000 older Americans died, leaving a nation of grieving survivors in their absence. This profound loss of life will undoubtedly inform the field’s understanding of grief and grieving for many years to come. Pre-pandemic, older women in the United States understood grief to be part of their life stage; COVID-19 amplified the grief experience through both cumulative losses and the isolation particular to the novel coronavirus response. However, few qualitative studies explore older women’s grief, …

Growing In Grief: A Meaning-Making Expressive Arts Therapy Method Developed For Bereaved Youth, Jessica Wilson

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Approximately 5.3 million youth in the United States have experienced the death of a sibling or parent. They face challenges such as an increased risk of depression, anxiety, substance use, and other detrimental effects on adjustment. A small subset of this population experiences significant emotional and behavioral difficulties, characterized by an inability to function in major life roles, a preoccupation with the loss, and separation distress. Modern grief literature describes meaning-making as an adaptive coping process contributing to a sense of renewed hope and self-efficacy and a reduction in distressing grief symptomology. Expressive arts therapy is an effective way to …

Rhythmic Co-Regulation As A Recovery Tool For Grief, Loss, And Change: A Literature Review, Rebecca Kushner

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Rhythm is a core tenant in the field of dance/movement therapy. Rhythm is a particularly noteworthy tenant due to its easeful translation and universality across populations and cultures. The literature review below is a trauma-informed exploration of how rhythm might aid in the recovery process of change, grief, and loss at both the individual and collective levels. Research is explored across historic and present-day rituals which embody dance and rhythm while societal expectations, the denial of death and the harmful effects this produces are scoured closely. This literature review looks at bereavement processes in family and group systems and how …

The Dance/Movement Embodied Experience Of Grief And Loss Using The Five Senses: Development Of A Clinical Method, Yarmisha Cofield

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

According to recent grief and loss research, creative arts therapy can help people heal after losing something or someone. However, there is little research to support the use of dance/movement therapy (DMT) in the adult population. This literature review investigated grief and loss, with a particular emphasis on embodied grief and how and where grief is carried in the physical body. Furthermore, this study of the literature extended on the implementation of DMT and the five senses with adults experiencing embodied grief, as well as body-based techniques to assist these individuals in understanding their loss. This was an essential subject …

There Is A Place For You And Your Little Ones: Homiletics And Liturgy In View Of Pregnancy Loss, Joseph Michael Baumgarten

Doctor of Ministry Major Applied Project

Baumgarten, Joseph M. There is a Place for You and Your Little Ones: Homiletics and Liturgy in View of Pregnancy Loss. Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2022. 81 pp.

Pregnancy loss and the grief that follows is more common than most people think. However, there is a gap in resources, discussion, and care for those who have experienced such losses. This is true in wider culture as well as in the church. While there are a few resources available, they are limited. This project addresses the church’s ability to provide proper recognition of pregnancy loss, the validation …

A Mother’S Disenfranchised Grief: Pregnancy Loss, Madison Jones

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Grief is unique to each individual and in the way it manifests socially, relationally, and physically. There are varying different types of grief and this paper examines disenfranchised grief specifically, miscarriage. Miscarriage, although prevalent, has been understudied in its approach for support and its impact on mothers. The current literature is examined to highlight counseling considerations and approaches to support for this population. Limitations in the current research are identified as gender and racial minorities being understudied. Grief will be experienced by everyone at some point in their lives and counselors must be competent in appropriately supporting this entire population.

Therapeutic Approaches To Working With Perinatal Loss Clients: A Grounded Theory Study, Heather H. Olivier

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal loss (i.e., miscarriage, stillbirth, termination, and infant death) is commonly referred to in the literature as an invisible loss, non-loss, and even medical event. It is an ambiguous loss exhibiting the dialectical contradiction between the physical absence and psychological presence of the baby accompanied by disenfranchised grief, a reaction to a loss that is unacknowledged by society. Despite the likelihood of mental health clinicians working with clients who have experienced perinatal loss, there has yet to be a therapeutic model designed specifically for the unique grief and trauma reactions presented in this population. Existing grief models do not address …

Understanding Grief Through The Eyes Of A Child (Ages 3-12): Mindfulness And Other Mindful Modalities As Supportive Tools, Clare Duplace

Mindfulness Studies Theses

This study demonstrates how mindfulness and other mindful modalities can be supportive tools for children experiencing grief and loss. The literature reflects the importance of understanding the ways in which children grieve at varying ages and developmental stages, facilitating grief and death-related conversations, the connection between mindfulness and grief and the use of mindfulness-based interventions within the realms of grief and death. This thesis is supported through findings from peer-reviewed articles, books, podcasts, activities, and meditations. The creative project aims to reflect that grief and loss-related experiences can be openly talked about and supported through appropriate resources and mindful modalities …

Covid-19: Social Support Among The Bereaved, Fernande Nanda Mamane

Theses and Dissertations

Bereavement is a universal experience. Presently, there have been over 1,024,611 deaths in the United States alone related to the COVID-19 virus and this number is growing (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022). With the significant rise in deaths, as well as subsequent societal health and safety measures due to the pandemic, social support for the bereaved is expected to be severely impacted. Limited access to social spheres, as well as adjustments to typical funeral practices, may impact the perception of support by those grieving. The purpose the study was to gain a better understanding of bereaved individual’s experiences …

Adolescent Bereavement After Sudden Loss Of A Close Friend, Alora Elizabeth Zulliger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the prevalence of sudden death in adolescence, there is a deficiency of resources and support for adolescents who have lost a close friend to premature death. These resources are vital, as the sudden and unexpected death of a close friend is often traumatizing and can contribute to a sense of instability in young people. Although a great deal of academic research has been conducted on sibling or parental grief during adolescence, there existed a need for further research on peer loss during adolescence. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to describe the essence and meaning of the lived …

Adapting Grief And Bereavement-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Chinese-Identifying Individuals In America: A Cultural Analysis, Ian Tsang

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Anti-Asian hate as well as shifting circumstances brought on by current events all around the world highlight the increased need for mental health support and services in an ever-growing Chinese population in the United States, particularly in regard to grief work. Additionally, Chinese Americans demonstrate a disproportionate and lower utilization of mental health services, especially in comparison to the general population in the country. This paper discusses the various factors contributing to this phenomenon before presenting recommendations for culturally adapting evidence-based approaches to grieving individuals in the target population. More specifically, a cultural analysis consisting of topics such as Chinese …

Trauma And Grief: Developing A Framework For Equipping The Hispanic/Latino Churches As A Healing Community In The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Of North Carolina, Santiago Reales

Doctor of Ministry Projects

This project aimed to equip Hispanic/Latino congregations of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBFNC) as a healing community to help people in recovering from loss and trauma in a healthy way. Participants in five-workshop sessions over four weeks explored stories of grief and trauma from the Old and New Testament along with contemporary grief and trauma theories. Each workshop presented what the Scriptures and mental health best practices teach about how to deal with grief and trauma. Also, the project sought to determine whether the participant’s training experience impacted their stress level.

Grieving Climate Change: A Psychological And Personal Exploration Of Emotionally Processing The Climate Crisis, Hava Chishti

Pitzer Senior Theses

The psychological concept of grief, although not typically associated with climate change, has strong applications to the emotional processing of climate change for human beings. Grief can be related to climate change in many ways, including the grief that individuals may feel over the anticipated loss of their future, losses that may be experienced due to climate-related disasters, and grief for the overall implications of anthropogenic climate change. A mixture of traditional literature analysis and creative nonfiction essays, which focus on personal narratives from interviews and the author’s experience, are used to outline the ways in which the psychology of …

Demonstrated Sensitivity, Kate Crankshaw

Theses and Dissertations

Flameworking is a tedious process that demands all of your attention and focus. Making multiples of a shape in this process allows my body and mind to fall into a rhythm. During these times, it allows my anxious mind to be quieted and helps me dive into processing past memories, trauma, and grief. It is commonly suggested in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy practices to find an activity to do that is both physical and repetitive to work through grief. This stimulates the physical and mental parts of the body, both areas where the effects of grief and trauma are held. Relaxing …

An Examination Of Grief Interventions With Black And Latinx Communities, Melissa Mares

Theses and Dissertations

Grief is a universal experience that is influenced by socio-cultural cultural norms. While past research has acknowledged that attention to diversity and culture are in integral part of treatment, research on grief interventions for Black and Latinx populations has been limited and even more so for interventions that incorporate cultural adaptations. Using peer reviewed articles published between 1985-2022, this systematic review set out to investigate three questions: What are the grief interventions used with grieving Latinx and Black communities? What is the effectiveness of the interventions in reducing grief symptomology? How has cultural adaption been implemented? This review revealed that …

Deep In The Shadows Of Loss: An Exploration Of Grief, Mourning, And Intellectual Disability, Cara Grosset

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative research project explores grief and mourning experiences of people labelled/with intellectual disabilities subsequent to the death of someone important in their lives. The primary research question was: in what ways do people labelled/with intellectual disabilities experience grief after the death of a significant person in their lives? The need for a project of this kind is grounded in the lack of research and social work practice literature related to better understanding grief, mourning, and support experiences after a death from the perspective of people labelled/with intellectual disabilities. The dual purpose of this research is to better understand (and …

2 Years On: Loss And Grief Amidst The Covid-19 Pandemic, Eman H. Nabulsi

Psychology and Counseling Theses

This study sought to examine the variability and impact of different kinds of losses experienced during COVID-19 and how people reacted to and coped with those losses. The most common loss reported by individuals was the loss of social connection, while death-related losses were identified as the most impactful loss experienced. Results suggest that people responded in a myriad of ways, including increased cautiousness for health safety, refocusing their attention on important life matters, and finding alternative ways to connect with others. Furthermore, this study found that individual factors such as intolerance of uncertainty and perceived social support may play …

Maid (Medical Assistance In Dying) And Meaning: An Exploration Of The Experience And Ability To Make Meaning Through Involvement In A Maid-Specific Bereavement Group, The Synergistic Potential Of Covid-19 And Maid, And The Impact Of Healthcare Providers Relationships From The Perspective Of Relational Ethics On The Legacy Of Maid-Involved Families Into Their Bereavement, Allyson Van Kessel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

MAiD became legally accessible to Canadians with a grievous and irremediable illness in June of 2016. As I write in 2023, MAiD has been expanded to include patients who do not have a foreseeable death, with anticipated inclusion of those with mental illness as a sole underlying medical condition (MI-SUMC) in 2024. As MAiD now accounts for over 3% of all deaths annually in Canada, there is a growing impetus to explore ways by which MAiD practice can be improved and care can be extended to the family members following the death of a patient.

A hospital in southwestern Ontario …

Grieving Experiences Of Undergraduate College Students, Alexia V. Rehling

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare the well-being of bereaved versus non-bereaved undergraduate students. Additionally, they were asked to report how many losses they have experienced, the characteristics of the most difficult loss, and their experiences with grief. Lastly, data on use of and access to support sources was collected as well as their perceived helpfulness. Results showed that bereaved undergraduates (i.e., those who indicated experiencing at least one significant loss) reported lower well-being than non-bereaved individuals. Further, 4% of participants met the criteria to receive a diagnosis of Prolonged Grief Disorder, 32.4% reported experiencing the separation distress …