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Family Resilience in the Wake of Loss: A Meaning-Oriented Contribution

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Handbook of Family Resilience

Abstract

As this case vignette illustrates, bereaved families often surprise us with their creative ways of dealing with a devastating loss. In relationship with one another and the broader community, family members can accommodate even the most dreadful experiences, endowing them with meaning while at the same time strengthening their collective resilience.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Mimi’s story and those of other parents who have lost children are featured in our colleague Todd Hochberg’s video documentary, Other Rituals: Parents’ Stories of Meaning Making, available at www.toddhochberg.com.

  2. 2.

    We searched the two main journals in the field of grief (Death Studies and Omega: Journal of Death and Dying) from 2000 to 2010 for themes of resilience, supplementing this strategy with our knowledge of the broader literature, both classic and recent.

  3. 3.

    We searched three main journals in the field of family therapy (Family Process, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, and Journal of Family Therapy) from 2000 to 2010, for themes of resilience in relation to loss and grief.

  4. 4.

    For more on this topic, please see Chap. 26.

  5. 5.

    A more extensive discussion of this case also appeared in Kissane and Hooghe (2011).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Context, Center for Marital and Family Therapy, University Hospital Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    An Hooghe

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA

    Robert A. Neimeyer

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  1. An Hooghe
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  2. Robert A. Neimeyer
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Correspondence to Robert A. Neimeyer .

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  1. , School of Social Work, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, 63105, USA

    Dorothy S. Becvar

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Hooghe, A., Neimeyer, R.A. (2013). Family Resilience in the Wake of Loss: A Meaning-Oriented Contribution. In: Becvar, D. (eds) Handbook of Family Resilience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3917-2_16

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