ABSTRACT
One way the bereaved may find some solace amidst the affective torrents of loss is through the use of rituals and the creation of legacy. Bereavement rituals and legacy are inextricably linked concepts as often the use of rituals by mourners assists in the consolidation of the legacy of the one mourned. Legacy often extends beyond this ceremony and may enter into facets of community that were important to the deceased. Rituals may inform the construction of a deceased’s legacy, and one’s legacy may inform the creation of appropriate rituals. Related to rituals and legacy work, therapeutic responses to the bereaved need to be considered in terms of the unique individual with whom one is working. The research conclusions mirror many years of clinical observation by grief counselors, which support the use of postfuneral rituals in their counseling practices, and provide mourners with a positive way of being in the presence of their grief and facilitate their unique mourning processes.
