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…”

“First, it is often assumed that searching for meaning is a relatively stable trait (Steger et al., 2008) that increases in times of significant psychological distress (Thompson & Janigian, 1988), like after traumatic experiences (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“After the grief work, during which they are submerged by emotions (Field, Gao, & Paderna, 2005), individuals cope with their loss through meaning reconstruction strategies that allow the continuation of the relationship with the deceased person (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Meaning making model of grief Neimeyer (2001, 2006) and Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) argue that grief is a meaning making process.”

“We will need to encourage her to make sense of her father’s death, to look for benefits that have occurred from the experience, and to undergo changes in her meaning of self (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“1 The kind of loss that occa - sions grief involves profound disturbance to something very encompassing, which has been labelled an ‘assumptive world’ (Parkes, 1988 ), a ‘construction of reality’ (Marris, 1986 ), or a ‘meaning structure’ (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“The process of meaning-making and is central to how people cope with personal loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) also suggest that while for some people, the loss creates holes in the fabric of their woven universe, for others, it creates disruption which involves a reconstruction of the whole fabric of life meaning itself.”

“Bereaved people find themselves asking why this happened to their loved ones and why such deaths occur at all (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“…theoretical perspective, it should be noticed that the three activities of meaning reconstruction involved in the grieving process conceptualized by Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) can be associated with three of the factors we obtained: sense making with Factors 3 and 4 Preparation for the Death and…”

“…determined to be different than identity change (a type of meaning making generally regarded as related to, but distinct from sense making; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006), as reflecting on the caregiving experience was a retrospective endeavor focused on events that occurred prior to the…”

“Finding a way to reassert control over these issues by changing life’s structures to accommodate the negative event can allow women to start seeing it in a positive light and create new, positive goals (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“In seeking to understand the diversity and complexity of bereavement responses in general (Shuchter & Zisook, 1993 ) and parental grief responses to the death of a child in particular (Arnold, Gemma & Cushman, 2005 ), many bereavement researchers have embraced the concept of ‘meaning-making’ as central to understandin…”

“Meaning reconstruction involves three aspects: making sense of the loss, finding benefit in the loss, and reorganization of the identity of the bereaved (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“…found to be correlated with less severe PTSD symptoms and general psychological distress among veterans (Currier, Holland, Chisty, & Allen, 2011; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Owens, Steger, Whitesell, & Herrera, 2009; Park, 2010; Park & Folkman, 1997; Schok, Kleber, Elands, & Weerts, 2008), even…”

“…relationship between benefit finding and positive identity change is no exception—specifically, individuals who have experience in benefit finding have reported positive changes in their sense of self, spiritual growth, and increased confidence (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004).”

“In fact, bereavement experience stimulates a deeper contemplation of death (Riley, 1970) and reconstructs one’s conceptualization of death (Braun & Berg, 1994; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Fear itself is by no means problematic, as it is a common reaction to traumatic events (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006) and has been shown to predict various health-promoting behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., hand washing, social distancing; Harper et al., 2020).”

“They may come to realize what truly matters in life and develop a greater sense of personal strength, courage, and resilience as a result of their loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Tian & Solomon, 2020).”

“Bereavement is defined as the objective situation one faces after having lost an important person and a statement of the objec-tive reality of the situation after death 5 .”

“…personal past events and connecting the present self with one’s past and future (e.g. McLean & Pasupathi, 2012); in short, identity development itself generally relates to a process of creating meanings for past experiences and the self (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; McLean & Pasupathi, 2012).”

“This finding reflects the broader role of meaning reconstruction in grief, aligning with the constructivist grief framework proposed by Gillies and Neimeyer [53], which identifies sense-making as a crucial coping mechanism in traumatic losses.”

“The meaning reconstruction perspective in grief research (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, 2001) argues that restoring the dialogue and renewing the bond with the dead individual can restore a sense of meaning for the bereaved person (Neimeyer, 2012).”

“…meaning in their loss report less intense grief and mental suffering, and therefore greater well-being, more positive functioning of the immune system and better physical health than those who are unable to do so (Bower et al., 2003; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Murphy et al., 2003; Neimeyer, 2019).”

“…emotional explanations and their combinations, which re fl ects the view of meaning-making as a cognitive-emotional process that involves assessing the experience in relation to a previously constructed cognitive frame of interpretation (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park, 2010; Tidwell et al., 2021.)”

“The field of grief process research has seen a shift from traditional stage-based theories to more postmodern or constructivist theories in the past few decades [1, 9].”

“…to a specific subset (or dual subsets) of grief-related tasks (Rando, 1988; Rubin, 1999; Stroebe & Schut, 1999; Worden, 2009); and/or (c) reorganizing one’s cognitive perspective regarding a grief-inducing loss in order to find meaning and/or purpose in it (Gilles & Neimeyer, 2006; Walter, 1996).”

“…– suggests that the continued attachment or relationship with the deceased is in fl uential in determining bereavement outcomes; and (3) the trauma perspective – emphasizes the role of meaning making in adaptation following traumatic loss (see also Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Stroebe, 2001).”

“Counselors and caregivers explore stories of loss through an empathic narrative retelling and construct new meanings for their experiences (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Gjennom å få og sette sammen tilstrekkelig informasjon har trolig media bidratt til at etterlatte fikk hjelp til å ta innover seg hendelsen og tapet og starte den komplekse reorienteringen til et liv uten den de mistet (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“From this standpoint, the concept of “ meaning reconstruction ” is seen as a process that occurs both within an individual and between individuals and is in fl uenced by cultural and social contexts (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“This intervention aims to support meaning making, informed by the above models in which bereaved family members engage in meaning making through bene fi t fi nding, identity reconstruction, and sense making (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park, 2010).”

“6 See also Neimeyer et al. (2002) and Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) for discussions of disrupted self-narratives in the wake of loss.”

“Bereaved parents may also employ cognitive mechanisms to cope with emotional experiences associated with their loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Association between sense making and distress in bereavement is not linear but is expected to increase before the search for meaning begins; it is greater while the search is occurring; and has a tendency to dissipate when some sense is made (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Stressful life events, such as loss and bereavement, can threaten, shift, or even shatter personal meaning systems, such as assumptive world beliefs, self-identity, life goals, and purpose (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Janoff-Bulman, 1989; Park, 2010).”

“Gillies and Neimeyer (2006, 32) identify ‘three distinct mechanisms’ through which the bereaved ‘engage in processes of meaning reconstruction in response to their loss’.”

“Gillies and Neimeyer (2006) suggest that such a struggle to develop a functional self-image may determine much of the future development of the bereaved sibling.”

“During times of profound stress and loss, meaning-making is a way to make sense of the world (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park, 2010), relieve distress, and promote personal growth (Breitbart, 2016; Frankl, 1946).”

“The second element of meaning reconstruction, bene fi t fi nding , refers to building new meaning structures and perceiving bene fi ts from the loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Hibberd, 2013; Neimeyer, 2001).”

“The turmoil caused by loss, particularly traumatic loss, may facilitate the development of a ‘buffer’ (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006) between intrusive thoughts and memories, and quotidian experience so as to allow for the reconstruction of meaning in our lives.”

“”, “ Does a world without him/her even have a meaning ?”) and although such questions can occupy one’s mind either deliberately or unintentionally, they can play an important role in making sense of loss (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“The death of a loved one can challenge people ’ s understanding of the world and the self, prompting them to fi nd meaning and signi fi cance in their lives (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“In this case, the bereaved person must search for meaning according to the model (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“’s (2010) study on meaning making by parents after the loss of their child looked at two ways in which the meaning making was accomplished—“sense making” and “benefit finding.” Sense making was seen as being accomplished when parents could list at least one way in which they had made sense of the loss they had experie…”

“Their world view can be shattered while they are struggling to give meaning to life and death (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Wheeler, 2001).”

“Within therapy, coherence is an orienting principle, aimed at providing structure and order in the context of chaos, trauma, or loss (e.g., Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer, Herrero, & Botella, 2006).”

“In their conceptualisation of meaning reconstruction, Gillies & Neimeyer (2006) suggest that the search for meaning occurs when the loss of a loved one is inconsistent with their preloss meanings held.”

“…with religion and transcendence, spiritual distress as disconnectedness with religion can occur through alienation from, or negative emotional responses to, God or separation from the Church and her rituals (Burke, Neimeyer, McDevitt-Murphy, Ippolito, & Roberts, 2011; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”

“Our findings also resonate with the meaning-centred model of grief (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006 ) which emphasizes grief as an ongoing process of meaning reconstruction rather than a state to be resolved.”

“Park writes: ‘Meaning making is widely (but not universally) considered essential for adjusting to stressful events (e.g. Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006)’.”

“…beyond mere emotional catharsis or exposure, as illustrated in various grief models, such as the cognitive avoidance model (Boelen et al., 2006), meaning-making theory (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006), dual process model (Stroebe & Schut, 1999), and cognitive attachment model (Maccallum & Bryant, 2013).”

“” According to Gillies and Neimeyer (2006), meaning reconstruction during bereavement involves active efforts to (1) make sense of the loss, (2) identify potential bene fi ts or positive transformations arising from the experience, and (3) reorganize one ’ s identity as a survivor.”

“…& Kessler, 2009), four tasks of mourning theory (Worden, 2018), dual process model of coping with bereavement (Stroebe & Schut, 2010), meaning reconstruction model (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006), continuing bonds theory (Klass et al., 2014), and post-traumatic growth theory (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004).”

“Among these characteristics, meaning integration has received particular attention, given its central role in identity construction and adaptive functioning (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Park, 2010).”