ABSTRACT
There is one resource that is easily overlooked, and this is the source of strength that can come from the bereaved parent's continuing relationship with the child after death. In a recent publication, the existentialist psychotherapist Irvin Yalom has explored the concept of rippling, referring to the fact that everyone creates circles of influence which affect others who survive them. That is, the effect people have on other people is in turn passed on to others, much as the ripples in a pond go on and on until they are no longer visible but continuing at a nano level. Greater understanding has emerged of psychological resilience, and how it is that some people can incorporate life's adversities and adapt to them successfully. Such people are able to resist the kind of helplessness which comes from believing that bad things always happen to them and blame themselves when they do.
