"Till death do us part": the application of object relations theory to facilitate mourning in a young widows' group.
A group of recently widowed young women sought help at a hospital's psychiatric clinic. All had been in treatment elsewhere and felt they were "pressured to get on with living." This paper presents an object relations model of a bereavement group which ran for one year. The focus was on supporting patients' defenses and avoided any implications of extended grief as pathological. Of particular interest was the use of personal video tapes and photographs in the bereavement process.
Lawrence
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Adult Outpatient Services, Hillside Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Glen Oaks, NY 11004.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006117:Grief; D006126:Group Processes; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D009769:Object Attachment; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010781:Photography; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012847:Single Person / Q000523:psychology*; D012948:Social Work Department, Hospital