Loss, Grief, and the Search for Significance: Toward a Model of Meaning Reconstruction in Bereavement

“In addition to Hogan, Greenfield and Schmidt’s (2001) Personal Growth factor on the Hogan Grief Reactions Checklist, Calhoun, Tedeschi, Park, and their colleagues have developed two scales for assessing “posttraumatic growth”: the Stress-Related Growth Scale (Park, Cohen, & Murch, 1996) and the better studied Posttrau…”

“In this way, their social relationships seem to change in terms of their increased capacity for empathy and becoming emotionally closers to others (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Holm & Severinsson, 2012).”

“Grief theories have now evolved to present-day postmodernist perspectives, focusing on continuing bonds and meaning reconstruction (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Goldsworthy, 2005; Kempson et al., 2008; Klass et al., 1996; Rothaupt & Becker, 2007).”

“Gillies and Neimeyer’s Meaning-Making model explored how individuals address questions of distress and identity post-loss [16].”

“In addition to sense making and benefit finding, bereavement theorists have posited that identity change through meaning reconstruction is yet another meaning-making strategy ( Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006 ).”

“…has been conceptualized in many ways (see Park & Folkman, 1997, for review), one important construal of meaning involves “sense-making” or the capacity to develop a subjective sense of understanding of the loss (Davis et al., 1998, 2000; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Janoff-Bulman & Frantz, 1997).”

“…with this circumstance, people try to make sense of what is happening, appraise benefit where possible, and struggle to assimilate or accommodate the reality of the cancer experience by reconstructing their global meaning and their sense of self (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park & Folkman, 1997).”

“This aligns with previous research on meaning reconstruction in bereavement [15, 31, 35].”

“Meaning reconstruction theory has been extensively described (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park, 2010).”

“The increased distress that complicates and lengthens grief processes is not seen as necessarily pathological in Gillies and Neimeyer’s (2006) “Model of Meaning Reconstruction Pathways in Response to Loss of a Loved One.”

“…(e.g., Davis, Nolen-Hoeksama, Larson, 1998; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Parkes & Weiss, 1983; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2008) and have expanded upon Janoff-Bulman and Frantz’s (1997) conceptualization of meaning in the context of trauma (e.g., Davis et al., 1998; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, 2000).”

“…many, creating a story about their experience of loss is a way to acknowledge pain, speak freely about grief, and make meaning of their experience (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Lichtenthal, Neimeyer, Currier, Roberts, & Jordan, 2013; Lichtenthal et al., 2015; Nadeau, 2001; Neimeyer, 2000; Neimeyer,…”

“According to Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) a problem with the operational definition of PTG, is the polar distinction between PTG and grief distress, since the empirical evidence is inconclusive on the relationship between the constructs (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004).”

“A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript A uthor M anuscript In their Meaning Reconstruction Model of bereavement, Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) posit that the narrative of the loss event shatters pre-existing assumptions key to the bereaved individual’s self-narrative.”

“Sense-making has been shown to increase positive outcomes after the child’s death (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Lichtenthal et al., 2010), as illustrated by Wu et al. (2008) in a study on parents of patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.”

“Meaning making plays a crucial role in one’s coping with stress (Davis et al., 2000; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“As previously documented, the positive experience of venting thoughts and talking about the memories of the deceased seem to facilitate continued bonds with them (Dyregrov et al., in press; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Klass, Silverman, & Nickman, 1996).”

“Similar to initial psychometric findings of Holland et al. (2010), results supported a two-factor structure with the ISLES-S items loading on a Comprehensibility factor (gauging meaning made via possible assimilative processes) and a Footing in the World factor (gauging meaning made via possible accommodative processe…”

“Gillies and Neimeyer reported three main factors for the reconstruction of meaning after a loss, the first of which they describe as “sense making,” corresponding to the bereaved person’s struggle to understand why the death happened and why their beloved relative rather than any other person died (7,8).”

“…on Frith and Harcourt (2007), the rationale guiding our analysis is to highlight the main strengths of using photography – both as a methodological and therapeutic tool – vis-à-vis the study of the grief experience according to a social constructivist approach (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“This construct includes three main factors: sense-making (giving meaning to the event), benefit finding (gathering positive aspects from the event), and identity change (living the event as personal growth) (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“However, despite an increasing emphasis on the importance of meaning-making for understanding responses to loss and trauma, problems in study methods have constrained what they have been able to provide (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) discussed how significant losses disrupt the coherence of life, calling for active attempts to (a) make sense of the loss and (b) find some sort of “silver lining” or benefit to the experience, and (c) to reorganize one’s identity as bereaved.”

“Their sense-making of the death (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006) in this way was then associated with lower grief reactions.”

“Closure, which was described as necessary to move on with life and create a new way of living.(23,24) The results of the study also showed that relationships and roles had meaning for what form of support were needed.”

“Notably, PTG does not consistently correlate with less distress in empirical research (Cho & Park, 2013; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Staub & Vollhardt, 2008).”

“From this approach, qualitative research can uniquely provide nuanced understanding of socially-contextualized grief (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006) and offer implications that not only destigmatize and bolster professional grief counseling methods and inform death and grief education, but can work to…”

“…disrupting its basic life assumptions and, with this, the survivor’s ability to make sense of critical life events or to maintain a sense of coherence in his or her identity over time (Neimeyer, 2004, 2006), generating in turn a wide range of negative emotions (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“The finding sheds light on a pathway of resilience and posttraumatic growth of local relief workers who suffered loss and trauma in the disaster.(40) Moreover, we found that local relief workers’ daily work hours were negatively associated with their postquake suicidal ideation even after controlling for work engageme…”

“The average time since loss was 20 months, which may explain why benefit-finding (which typically occurs later than sense-making; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006) did not feature strongly in their narratives.”

“Another example being acknowledging the importance of understanding (i.e. making sense of) and fi nding meaning in the loss experience, rooted in a meaning constructionist framework (Archer, 2008; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; R. A. Neimeyer, 2001).”

“Theoretical frameworks used to make sense of family experiences included grief (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Stroebe & Schut, 1999, 2015; J. W. Nadeau, 2008; Walter, 1996; Worden, 2018), systems thinking (Grisogono, 2006; Mehta et al., 2009; J. Nadeau, 2001), meaning-making (Park, 2010), narrative…”

“Acquiring a fuller understanding of the cause of death may have been important in an effort to make sense of the loss (Gilles & Neimeyer, 2006 ).”

“…to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning … ” This search for meaning, particularly after death, has been implicated as an integral component of the grieving process (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Lichtenthal, Neimeyer, Currier, Roberts, & Jordan, 2013; Neimeyer, Baldwin, & Gillies, 2006).”

“Narration is an elective tool to construct a meaning-making [38] of the BC experience and to reconfigure time perspectives [32] during and after the illness [39,40].”

“Research suggests that when bereaved caregivers make meaning of their caregiving and bereavement experiences they may exhibit lower depression and anxiety, and thus lower their risk for complicated grief post-death (Bellet, Neimeyer, & Berman, 2018; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park & Folkman, 1997a).”

“Moreover, the findings also stress the notion that grieving is a continuing journey of processing and re-processing of the loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006), as participants vary extensively in number of years post loss, yet all are still actively engaged in processing the loss.”

“Evidence suggests that less predictable losses require more meaning-making to allow the person to comprehend the event (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Facing the death of a loved one, some bereaved individuals turn to religious resources to give meaning to loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, 2000, 2001; Neimeyer, Prigerson, & Davies, 2002) and to maintain or to move towards a better level of emotional and social well-being.”

“The interview guide was constructed from the perspective of meaning reconstruction theory (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Kawashima, 2008).”

“So called meaning reconstruction is usually associated with adjustment in grieving processes, which can lead to the development of a changed sense of self (Gillies and Neimeyer 2006).”

“…over time, reconstructing meaning after a death ultimately results in personal changes, ranging from reconstructing the continuing bonds with the deceased (Neimeyer, Baldwin & Gillies, 2006) to reorganising one’s assumptive world or even reconstructing one’s identity (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“From this perspective, grief is defined by the individual person who is attempting to move forward through life with a new sense of meaning-making (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Successful meaning making is associated with better adjustment to the tragic event, whereas unsuccessful meaning making leads to continued distress and ongoing attempts to find meaning (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park, 2010).”

“They do this to make sense of the loss, find benefit from it, and adjust to their own identity as a survivor (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) examined a number of theories, including attachment theory and continuing bonds and showed how each of them can be relevant to reconstruction of meaning after bereavement.”

“It has been well established that meaning-made following loss and other adverse life experiences predicts better adjustment outcomes (e.g., Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Lichtenthal & Cruess, 2010).”

“Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) distinguish three types of meaning-making processes in grieving: sense making (searching for an explanation of the loss), benefit finding (searching for something positive in the loss), and identity change (personal growth).”

“In less complex cases, adaptive responses to loss may include the appropriation of a new identity that reflects the new reality resulting from death (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Meaning Reconstruction Theory has been extensively described (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, 2017; Park, 2010) and its history and development are summarized in the review that follows the present article in this Special Issue (Neimeyer, 2018).”

“The integration of different themes in level 3 could also be described as the appropriation of new meanings that facilitate the construction of new narratives (Dimaggio et al., 2010; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“…et al., 2010; Lee, 2008; Lee, Cohen, Edgar, Laizner, & Gagnon, 2004; Lethborg, Aranda, Bloch, & Kissane, 2006), mitigating feelings of grief and loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, Baldwin, & Gillies, 2006), and improving overall quality of life (Park, Edmondson, Fenster, & Blank, 2008).”

“For example, Niemeyer’s ‘meaningreconstruction’, or the attempt to reaffirm a world of meaning threatened by loss, includes sense-making, benefit finding and identity change (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Constructivist theories of meaning-making emphasize the role of meaning-making in adaptation to grief (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Hooghe et al., 2012), a process that involves sense-making, benefit finding and identity change.”

““Meaning making” (that is, SML) is considered crucial in reducing these discrepancies and successfully adjusting to adversity (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”