Working with grieving adults

Andrew Clark is a consultant psychotherapist and group analyst working in a multidisciplinary psychotherapy service in Bristol (Cedar House, Blackberry Hill Hospital, Manor Road, Bristol BS16 2EW, UK. E-mail: Andrew.Clark{at}awp.nhs.uk). His particular interests include training in psychodynamic and group analytic psychotherapy for mental health professionals.

Despite the dearth of recent psychiatric literature on the subject of grief, mental health professionals continue to see patients suffering from complex responses to grief. This article reviews psychological theories about normal and abnormal grief, drawing particularly on the work of Freud, Klein, Bowlby and Parkes. It describes the principles of grief work, using as illustration clinical examples of adults grieving as a result of bereavement. These principles also apply to work with adults grieving other forms of loss (e.g. breakdown of a love relationship, loss of employment or loss of physical health).