ABSTRACT
Philosophers, poets, psychoanalysts, composers, painters, and so many others have studied mourning. In a sense, every clinician collects data about it, most hours of the day. But what have we learned that can help the bereaved? More specifically, does finding words for grief help? Do they need to be spoken? Should it be an aim to push through mourning and emerge from it? If we have fought loss, holding onto those we love for as long as possible, how does that affect the grieving that follows? Although each death is its own country, is anything generally true?
