Watching Someone You Love Die: An Integrative Approach For Adolescents Dealing With The Traumatic Impact of Parental Life-Limiting Illness
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Authors
Kankewitt, Leigh
Issue Date
2024-06
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
grief , continuing bonds theory , meaning reconstruction , post-traumatic growth , parental life-limiting illness , adolescence , loss
Alternative Title
Abstract
Facing the death of a parent is inevitable during one's lifetime. Research has primarily focused on grief and bereavement in older adults, leaving the voices of adolescents underrepresented in research studies. One of the main factors for this is tied to social and cultural conditioning. Death has typically been a forbidden topic of discussion in Western cultures and is especially considered a taboo subject for youth. Therefore, the focus of interest and study has been placed on the ill and dying parent, leaving young people's experiences out of the conversation. Adolescents have unique vulnerabilities to traumatic stressors due to age and emotional maturity and their voices need to be considered in research about bereavement. This capstone aims to better inform counselling practitioners on how to support young people ages 13 – 18 in bereavement. This capstone will discuss the benefits of using an integrative approach for adolescents including the application of continuing bonds and meaning reconstruction theory. Chapter three will conclude with a proposed bereavement group using a combination of expressive arts therapy, narrative storytelling, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). May we all become more grief literate to better support our youth in their mourning.
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Citation
Publisher
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
openAccess
openAccess