A New Treatment Program for the Grief That Won’t End 

“Loss of a loved one is a natural, universally experienced life event and, at the same time, among life’s most challenging experiences.” – Dr. Shear in an article for Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, published in June 2012.

According to research, usually right after death, the intensity of grief also known as “acute grief” will be manageable as time goes by.

“It’s a transformation from acute grief to what we call integrated grief,” Shear explained. “The person stops dominating your mind and rests peacefully in your heart.”

Shear further noted that grief never really ends: “You’re never really going to stop missing someone whom you love who dies.” For most people, however, grief changes as they process their loss and start to re-engage in life.

Dr Shear helps in treating patients suffering from “complicated grief” – people whom felt like it happened just yesterday even though their loved ones was gone for more than a year.

 

One treatment is “imaginal revisiting” where the patient tells the story of learning about the death and is made to listen to the recorded version everyday. This is help them accept reality and coming to terms with it.