ABSTRACT
The experience of family or group grief has similarities and differences to grief experienced by an individual. Clinicians have found that in some ways, group grief can create an environment for additional support and a sense of belonging but can also complicate the bereavement process as individuals grieve in different ways and go through different processes. Walsh and McGoldrick (2004) have endorsed a systemic approach to family grief that understands “the chain of influences that reverberate throughout the family network of relationships, including partners, parents, children, siblings, and extended kin” (p. 6). Others agree that grief occurs in two areas at the same time: the individual level and social or interpersonal level (Cook & Dworkin, 1992). Therapists may be called to help with families or larger systems such as communities that have experienced traumatic loss. Regardless, therapists who are comfortable using an eclectic approach to treatment and intervention will likely find the best results (Lattanzi-Licht & Doka, 2003). Increasingly in recent years, experts in the area of family bereavement have also depended on strength-based, competency-based, and resiliency approaches as a key element to effective intervention and treatment (Hemmings, 2005).
