“Broken Together”: Spirituality and Religion as Coping Strategies for Couples Dealing with the Death of a Child: A Literature Review with Clinical Implications

Authors: Ungureanu, Ileana¹; Sandberg, Jonathan²

Source: Contemporary Family Therapy, Volume 32, Number 3, September 2010 , pp. 302-319(18)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

The death of a child is an event that can fall into the category of uncontrollable life events, testing the limits of the ability to control of bereaved parents. The literature reviewed showed that religious/spiritual coping is a unique way of coping and may be particularly important for couples who have lost a child. When assessing the couples' coping strategies, marital therapists would be wise to look for religious/spiritual mechanisms that can be employed in the therapeutic process. Furthermore, the reviewers propose Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (Johnson, 2004, The practice of emotionally focused couple therapy: Creating connection, Routledge, New York) as well suited for helping couples grieving the death of their child.

Keywords: Couples; Death of a child; Spirituality/religion; Emotionally focused couple therapy

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10591-010-9120-8

Affiliations: 1: College of Human Ecology, Department of Marriage and Family Therapy, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA, Email: iungurea@syr.edu 2: School of Family Life, Department of Marriage and Family Therapy, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

Publication date: 2010-09-01