ABSTRACT

Therapists should be able to find inspiration to intervene in acute crisis, delayed and avoided grief. An example of a client with chronic development of grief whose grief therapy therapists were unable to complete shows why the outlook is poor when the grief has become chronic. The therapist must be able to create psychological space around the client in which a deep understanding for the pain can be felt and in which there is respect for the difficulty of giving way and feeling the bereavement and the despair. It is hard to describe how this space is created. The ability to empathize is necessary for making the contact with the client which is the basis of the co-operation. In crisis intervention and grief therapy it is important to be able to convey one's understanding for the client's situation both verbally and non-verbally. The chapter describes different courses of treatment.