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…”

“The work of re-signifying the existential experience is extremely challenging [8], and just when these people most need to maintain a mutually supportive relationship with others, they may isolate themselves as they deal with the change of their internal models of attachment and their core beliefs, on which a feeling…”

“Ability to find meaning in the death can predict the number and severity of grief outcomes (Coleman & Neimeyer, 2010; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Meaning-making is commonly considered vital for adapting to stressful events and challenges (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“To measure coping with loss as proposed in the “Model of Meaning Reconstruction” [35, 36], three 5-point Lik-ert-type scale questions were asked: “How much sense would you say have you made of the loss?””

“Over the years, these models have been reframed using constructionist perspectives that highlight the significance of individual meaning making when experiencing loss and bereavement (Gillies and Neimeyer, 2006).”

“It takes time, sometimes years, to find benefits or new meanings after a traumatic loss and to integrate it into one’s sense of self (Gillies and Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Some studies show that meaning-making is widely considered essential for adjusting to stressful events [66].”

“Consequently, they sought to reconstruct how they viewed themselves and the world through the process of sense making (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Holland, Currier, & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“These were The Model of Meaning Reconstruction in Response to Bereavement by Gillies and Neimeyer (2006), The Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement by Stroebe and Schut (1999), and the Scandinavian Four Stage Theory by Cullberg (2006).”

“As a result, meaning making can result in identity reconstruction (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“In the clinical literature, Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) explicitly considered identity change in the context of grief as a form of meaning reconstruction.”

“According to Gillies and Neimeyer (2006), mourn-ers may reconstruct meaning through three processes: sense-making, benefit-finding, and identity change.”

“The outcomes of meaning-making processes can help people to better adjust to their experience and contain the related distress (Segerstrom, Stanton, Alden, & Shortridge, 2003; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park 2010).”

“This is described by Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) who state: We continually author our own life stories as we reflect, interpret and reinterpret what happens in our lives, and we tell and retell our stories to other people and ourselves.”

“, caregiving and bereavement) will be enhanced by social support, resulting in reduced depression, anxiety, and grief intensity.(13,19-21) Described more in depth below, Caregiver Speaks employs photo-elicitation—the use of photos to elicit caregivers’ thoughts and feelings about their experiences—and a private Facebo…”

“Recent findings have shown a relationship between sense-making and complicated grief, i.e. those unable to make sense of their traumatic loss in the context of their current meaning system are more likely to exhibit CG symptoms (Currier, Hollans, & Neimeyer, 2006; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Through this process, individuals can make sense of the loss, find benefits in it, and even experience a change in self which is associated with adaptation to loss (Gillies and Neimeyer, 2006; Holland et al., 2006).”

“This appears especially true when someone has been unable to create a meaningful narrative around the loss (Bauer & Park, 2010; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer et al., 2006).”

“Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) delineates this process into three components: the acceptance of the death, the ability to derive benefit from the loss, and the integration of the event into one’s narrative.”

“According to constructivist perspective, bereaved individuals whose loss experience is inconsistent with his or her preloss meaning structures appear to engage in a process of searching for meaning in attempt to reconstruct meaning structures that can incorporate the current loss ( Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006 ).”

“1 3 loved person is disruptive to one’s cognitive and emotive status, requiring the reconstruction of meaning in order to facilitate grief processing [10].”

“Experiencing the death of someone close is one such contextual influence that has been associated with positive and negatives identity changes in college students, such as the reorganization of one’s priorities in life (e.g., Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Schultz, 2007).”

“At the other end is identity growth, characterized by enriched social relationships, changes in life priorities, spiritual transformations, and becoming a more resilient and empathetic person (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Gillies et al., 2015).”

“This hopeful motivation is a driving force to get involved, changing their life goals, reshaping their identity, and rebuilding their sense of self (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Of particular relevance is Neimeyer’s research on grief which suggests that meaning reconstruction is the principal task in coping with a loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, 2001, 2005; Neimeyer & Anderson, 2002).”

“The restoration of meaning in the context of highly stressful events (i.e. meaning-making) has been considered essential for adjustment (Breitbart et al., 2010; 2012; Fife, 2005; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Meaning Reconstruction Theory is an explanatory model of mourning (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park, 2010).”

“In addition, CG at T1 was found to be a significant predictor 4 O EGA Journal of Death and Dying 0 0 Johnson and Zitzmann 677 (Armour, 2003; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Hobfoll et al., 2007).”

“2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC such as prolonged grief disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression (Currier, Neimeyer, & Berman, 2008; Schut, Stroebe, Van den Bout, & Terheggen, 2001); additionally this may facilitate positive outcomes and personal growth (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“This meaning-making is a process of finding meaning, creating meaning, or reconstructing prior meaning we had attributed to our work, our relationships, our lives, and our selves (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Our intervention is informed by a meaning-centered theoretical framework (Neimeyer et al., 2006) and is explicitly predicated on an understanding of narrative creation as an act of meaning-making (Adler et al., 2018).”

“Recalling Miriam’s account of the paradox of her tragic legacy and her enriching childhood growing up alongside the present–absent dead, research might shed light on this experience of ‘‘tragic optimism’’ (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006, p. 56).”

“Although coping with bereavement is an ongoing process that involves relearning the world and the self, restoring a sense of order and direction, and developing new life goals and purpose (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006), social support tends to decrease over time (Brabant et al., 1995).”

“Neimeyer [52] in Constructivist Theory proposes three components for reconstructing meaning: sense making, benefit finding, and identity change.”

“Meaning construction is known to play a crucial role in adjustment to loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, 2002, 2009, 2016) and “metaphor makes meaning” (Morgan, 1997, p. 427).”

“By contrast, in many Western societies, people may note the absence of such informal familial and community support which may be explicitly missed (Granek, 2016; Thompson, 2016), while bereaved individuals struggle to find ‘meaning’ in death (Gillies and Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Traumatic events can prompt a reconstruction of the meanings in one’s life, such as after bereavement (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006), illness (De Picione et al., 2017; Freda & Martino, 2015), and organised violence (Park et al., 2012).”

“Storytelling has long been used in grief and bereavement explorations as it provides opportunities for sensemaking (Gilbert, 2002), catharsis (Bosticco & Thompson, 2005), continuing bonds (Valentine, 2008), and meaning-making when processing a loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Here models such as: The Dual Process Model of Coping With Bereavement by Stroebe and Schut (1999) or The Model of Meaning Reconstruction by Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) might help bring forth new perspectives on how grief can be approached by a grieving individual.”

“…posits that problem-focused coping, social support, and religious coping could be related to decreased grief intensity and increased psychological health, given the previous research on the adaptive nature of this coping strategy (Baschnagel et al., 2009; Bath, 2009; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Theoretical models proposed that grieving individuals who made meaning in the death of their loved ones restored meaning to their lives (Park, 2010; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“…emotion reactivity and distressing emotions, as well as promote a deeper understanding of the grief experience (loss-oriented coping) and a new perspective of world (restoration-oriented coping), which facilitates meaning reconstruction and adaptation 1 3 to bereavement (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Sudden and violent death often creates a crisis regarding assumptions about the world, which leads to an intensive search for meaning (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“By combining different conceptual models (e.g. Davis et al., 1998; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Klass & Steffan, 2017; Stroebe & Schut, 1999; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2006), this approach overcomes the limitations of a single theoretical framework.”

“However, when losses are ‘disenfranchised’ they are often met with ‘empathetic failure on the part of intimate and non-intimate others in the family and broader community’ (Neimeyer, 2006, p. 70).”

“…challenged with making sense of a disrupted worldview and constructing a revised worldview, and a self-identity that includes negative aspects and often nasty bits from the trauma that may be threatening and painful (Corr 2000; Gillies and Neimeyer 2006; Janoff-Bulman 2006; Mossige et al. 2005).”

“The meaning-making framework draws on several theories (e.g., Davis et al., 2000; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Janoff-Bulman & Frantz, 1997; Wortman & Silver, 1989).”

“The bereaved individual who fails to make meaning of loss are at a higher risk of developing complicated grief (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Lichtenthal & Breitbart, 2015).”

“…ProQOL is consistent with previous findings [18, 19], and the nonsignificant impacts echo a constructive view of people’s experiences: people’s reactions to and coping with adverse events are based not on what actually happened but on their perceptions and interpretations of what happened [20, 21].”

“Drawing from Davis, Nolen-Hoeksema, and Larson’s (1998) depiction of categories within two construals of meanings, Gillies and Neimeyer’s (2006) model of meaning reconstruction pathways, Park’s (2010) model of meaning making, and MacKinnon et al.’s (2013) ‘‘discrete subtypes of meaning making’’ (p.”

“Gender and multicultural aspects are critical factors in the variable outcomes of grieving populations (Berzoff, 2003; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Rothaupt & Becker, 2007; Stroebe, 2008).”

“…identity disturbance is central to the maintenance of grief symptoms over time (Bellet et al., 2020; C. B. Harris et al., 2023; Maccallum, 2022), while constructivist frameworks often consider identity an integral part of meaning-making processes (e.g., Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, 2015).”

“As discussed in the literature on meaning-making, parents may also experience benefit-finding following the traumatic death of a child (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) provided support for identity change in their statement, “by reconstructing meaning in our lives in response to loss, we necessarily reconstruct ourselves” (p. 37).”

“Major loss disrupts one’s integration with a sense of self, poses a major risk to one’s self-worth, and disturbs one’s self-image in the world (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, Prigerson, & Davies, 2002; Park, 2010).”

“In contemporary cognitive and constructionist theories, distress serves as a feedback mechanism, prompting sense-making as a means to restore meaning (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park & Folkman, 1997).”

“These include the narrative-based Model of Meaning Reconstruction in Response to Bereavement by Gillies and Neimeyer (2006), as well as the cognitive-based and highly popular Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement by Stroebe and Schut (1999).”

“Within this cultural and social space, which has significant effects on individual narratives (McLean et al., 2007), offspring bereaved to IPF are ought to engage in one of the main tasks in bereavement: a revision of one’s identity as a survivor (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Much of the existing scholarship on the subject of parental death has focused on the substantial impact these changes have upon the bereaved individual outside of the social matrix of others (eg, Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006 ; Nadeau, 2006 ).”

“Walter (1997) proposes that evolving relations with the dead forestalls maladaptive grief, while numerous studies show that even continued interaction with loved ones who died a violent death engenders traumatic growth (Gillies and Neimeyer, 2006).”

“…of personal meanings by which individuals order their life experiences, calling for active attempts to (a) make sense of the loss, (b) find some sort of ‘‘silver lining’’ or benefit in the experience, and (c) reorganize one’s identity as survivor’’ (p. 718; also see Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Consequently, people may try to make sense of the loss; to find some good in it, a sort of silver lining; or to reorganize how they view themselves as survivors (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”