title: Beyond the concept of recovery: growth and the experience of loss.
abstract: Responding to D. E. Balk (2004) about use of the term recovery to describe bereavement outcome, the authors take the view that this term is inadequate. Among the points raised are (a) the term recovery may imply a response to psychological disorder, whereas bereavement responses are generally normative; (b) recovery does not easily allow for transformative outcomes in bereavement, e.g., posttraumatic growth; and (c) terminology guides the thinking of bereaved persons, clinicians, and researchers in this area, and the term recovery may produce bias toward viewing bereavement as a disordered state. More neutral terms such as change or resolution avoid some of these pitfalls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, 4037 Colvard, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223-0001, USA. rtedesch@uncc.edu
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Tedeschi
authors.forename: Lawrence G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Calhoun
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001601:Bereavement; D005086:Existentialism; D006803:Human Development; D006801:Humans; D029181:Spirituality; D009626:Terminology as Topic