The DOI matches its Crossref record; 106 of the 109 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Loss, Grief, and the Search for Significance: Toward a Model of Meaning Reconstruction in Bereavement
Abstract
Constructivist theories recently have begun to inform understandings of grief, emphasizing the role of meaning making in adaptation to bereavement. In this article we review empirical studies using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods, investigating how three activities of meaning reconstruction are involved in the grieving process: sense making, benefit finding, and identity change. In particular, we consider how critical processes have been operationally defined and how study methods and designs have constrained what can be concluded from this burgeoning field of research. We conclude by positing an integrated model of meaning reconstruction pathways as a heuristic guide to further research and briefly note the implications of this model for clinical practice.
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“In short, Robert Neimeyer and his many collaborators have demonstrated that sudden deaths, like suicides, are shocking and compel individuals to make sense of them, to sift through available meanings as part of the bereavement process (Gillies and Neimeyer, 2006; Neimeyer et al., 2014).”
From The Social Roots of Suicide: Theorizing How the External Social World Matters to Suicide and Suicide Prevention (2021) · cites this paper as Gillies and Neimeyer, 2006
In the citing paper
“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.”
From "I don't grieve as much as I used to": A qualitative study on parents of children with rare and undiagnosed conditions navigating grief in the context of uncertainty. (2025) · cites this paper as Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006
Citations
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“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…”
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Park, C. L. (2010) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0018301 · Cited by 3,174
“…and their own lives as worthwhile; and (f) This process, when successful, leads to better adjustment to the stressful event (for reviews, see Collie & Long, 2005; Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006; Greenberg, 1995; Lee, Cohen, Edgar, Laizner, & Gagnon, 2004; O’Connor, 2002; Skaggs & Barron, 2006).”
BackgroundCollective Trauma and the Social Construction of Meaning
Hirschberger, G. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01441 · Cited by 581
“Collective trauma, however, does not necessarily have a negative impact on group identity and cohesion and often bolsters affiliation with the group through a feeling of shared fate and destiny – an integration of the traumatic experience into one’s identity and narrative (Gillies and Neimeyer, 2006).”
BackgroundContinuing bonds and reconstructing meaning: mitigating complications in bereavement.
Neimeyer, R. A., Baldwin, S. A., & Gillies, J. (2006) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481180600848322 · Cited by 497
“Alternatively, grief-related distress and attempts to seek security and significance could influence one another in an ongoing iterative process (Gillies & Neimeyer, 2006).”
InfluentialSelf-citationSense-Making, Grief, and the Experience of Violent Loss: Toward a Mediational Model
Currier, J. M., Holland, J. M., & Neimeyer, R. A. (2006) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481180600614351 · Cited by 501
“Sense-making as a crucial component of restoration initially emerged from the work of Janoff-Bulman and Frantz (1997) with trauma victims.”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationPark, C. L., Edmondson, D., Fenster, J. R., & Blank, T. O. (2008) · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1037/a0013348 · Cited by 376
Metadata
- Authors
- Gillies, J., & Neimeyer, R. A.
- Affiliations
- Forensic Health Services
- University of Memphis (US)
- ORCID
- Neimeyer, Robert A.
- Venue
- Journal of Constructivist Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2006-01
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 31-65
- ISSN
- 1072-0537 (ISSN-L)
- 1521-0650
- OpenAlex
- W2026626122
- Cited by
- 678
- References
- 109
- Citations by year
- 2026: 51 · 2025: 57 · 2024: 59 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 43 · 2019: 31 · 2018: 32 · 2017: 36 · 2016: 29 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 33 · 2013: 46 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 12.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Constructivist Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Social Sciences › Health › Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology
- Keywords
- grief, bereavement, meaning reconstruction, sensemaking, benefit finding, personal transformation, adaptation to loss, clinical practice implications
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