Chronic Sorrow : A Living Loss

Series Editor's Foreword ix Author's Foreword xiii Preface xvii Acknowledgments xxi Introduction 1(22) Historical Overview 4(17) Ancient Periods 4(1) Medieval Times through the Renaissance 5(1) Europe and the New World 6(3) The Twentieth Century 9(12) Chronic Sorrow as a Paradigm Shift 21(2) What Is Chronic Sorrow? 23(24) Proposed Definition 26(1) Comparisons and Distinctions 26(9) Clinical Significance of Recognition 35(5) Extent of Chronic Sorrow 40(2) Proposed Model of Chronic Sorrow 42(5) Interpreting the Loss 47(22) Subjectivity of the Loss 47(3) Gender Differences 50(5) Self-Loss and Other-Loss 55(8) Real Loss and Loss of Fantasies 63(6) Living with Chronic Sorrow 69(34) Personal Accounts 69(13) Fictionalized Works 82(5) Critical Stress Points 87(2) Victimization Anxiety 89(3) Author's Observations 92(11) Life Markers 96(1) Triggers 96(2) Attenuation of Affect 98(5) Families, Loss, and Chronic Sorrow 103(28) The Family Life Cycle 103(4) Family Stress and Loss 107(6) Family Coping and Adaptation 113(5) Siblings 118(6) Depleted Caregivers 124(7) Existential Issues 131(22) Disillusionment 135(2) Aloneness 137(3) Vulnerability 140(3) Inequity 143(2) Insignificance 145(2) Past Temporal Orientation 147(4) Mortality 151(2) Complicating Factors 153(24) Stress 154(5) Guilt 159(2) Identity 161(1) Symbiotic Enmeshment 162(2) Disordered Intimacy and Attachment 164(1) Anger 165(3) Depression 168(5) Loss Spirals 173(4) Professional Support and Treatment 177(38) Basic Assumptions 180(3) Desirable Attributes of the Professional and Therapist 183(3) Suggested Goals and Objectives 186(24) Diagnostic Assessment and Interpretation 186(4) Affect Modulation 190(5) Trauma Resolution 195(3) Restoration of Self-Efficacy and Control 198(1) Relinquishment of Fantasies Invalidated by the Loss 199(4) Embracing What Is 203(1) Reexamination and Update of Belief Systems 203(4) Prevention of Maladaptive Coping Styles 207(3) Hazards and Pitfalls 210(5) Implications and Directions for Research 215(14) Reinterpretation of Existing Studies 216(2) Independent Variables 218(9) Person Variables 218(3) Nature of the Loss 221(2) Treatment Effectiveness 223(3) Other Independent Variables 226(1) Dependent Variables 227(2) Trends 229(12) Professional Education 230(2) Shift toward Depathologizing of Grief 232(2) Psychotherapy 234(2) Increasing Prevalence of Chronic Sorrow 236(5) Epilogue 241(4) References 245(14) Index 259