Abstract
This paper develops the thesis that the grief experience attendant to loss by death is a natural phenomenon and that language has been used to obscure its nature as a process. The paradoxical nature of the grief experience refers to an expanded appreciation of its nature which can include a consideration of the survivor's own joy at being alive. A feeling of joy can occur consequent to allowing the more intense grief pain to be exposed and shared. Frequent references from playwrights and other well-known authors herein support the universal recognition of the above. The author has found these thoughtful individuals to constitute an important intellectual network for himself through the years.
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Appreciation is expressed to Betty Byfield Paul, L.I.C.S.W., Counseling Associates, Lexington, Massachusetts, for consultation and editorial review.
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Paul, N.L. The paradoxical nature of the grief experience. Contemp Fam Ther 8, 5–19 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00891830
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00891830