Introduction

This book shows the range of ways the continuing bonds model has been used, traces how the model has been expanded and enriched through the process of cross-fertilization and proliferation, and also discusses cross-fertilization. It overviews the continuing bonds model of grief, and presents the developments in the continuing bonds model in the context of other developments in bereavement studies. The book describes four overarching themes, and outlines how the chapters are organized. The themes are continuing bonds are intersubjective; continuing bonds are an important aspect of finding or constructing meaning; the continuing bonds model raises questions about the sense in which continuing bonds with the dead are real and/or in what sense they are true; and continuing bonds are best understood within their cultural setting and are very useful as we develop a model of grief that can be applied to all cultures.