Grief

Grief is chosen as the focus area in Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) when psychological distress is connected to the loss of someone close to you. Grief can also be understood more broadly to include other forms of loss, such as the end of a relationship, decline in physical health, infertility, or the anticipatory grief that can occur when facing another person’s—or one’s own—decline or death.

The goal of focusing on grief in IPT is to help you work through the phases of loss and move toward a sense of emotional resolution. This process involves not only exploring and understanding your unique grief reaction but also expressing those emotions, communicating your experience to others, and rebuilding or strengthening social supports.

Through therapy, you can begin to make meaning of your loss, integrate it into your life story, and find renewed connection and hope.

Examples When Grief Focus might be Chosen

Death of a loved one
Death of a pet
Stillbirth
Repeated miscarriages
Relationship Loss
Terminal Cancer
Disability

Reactions to Sudden Loss

In addition to feelings of shock, anger, guilt, depression, despair, and hopelessness, a sudden loss may also bring a profound sense of vulnerability and heightened anxiety. The world that once felt safe may now seem unpredictable or threatening. You may find yourself fearing for your own safety or that of your loved ones, and becoming preoccupied with the thought that random or uncontrollable events could happen again.

Beyond the primary loss of the person, there are often secondary losses and concurrent crises that follow. These might include the loss of income, home, social support, or even one’s sense of identity or social status. It often takes time for individuals and families to reorganize and re-establish stability after such a loss.

Not all experiences of grief involve the death of a loved one. Other significant life changes—such as loss of health, financial security, fertility, or independence—can also evoke a grief response. Any major change that alters your sense of normalcy can be experienced as a form of loss.

When a death or loss is perceived as preventable, feelings of guilt and anger may be intensified. The persistent “what if” thoughts that follow can complicate the grieving process, making it more difficult to find acceptance and emotional peace.

Main goals in IPT for Grief

The main therapeutic goals in IPT when grief is chosen as a focus area are to help you through the mourning process and to help you re-establish interests and relationships.

You and your therapist will reconstruct the positive and negative aspects of your relationship with the deceased, or the positive and negative aspects of the loss in your life. Often when a loss is experienced, the positive aspects of your relationship with the deceased or old role are magnified and the negative aspects are minimized. People may feel that remembering negative aspects of the relationship is disrespectful to the deceased, whereas others fear that they might not remember important aspects of the relationship, or they may lose their cherished memories of the loved one.

You and your therapist will work together to help you navigate the mourning process in a successful way. An important part of therapy will help you evaluate the availability and use of your social support network. Social support is psychologically beneficial, but people might turn away from others after they have suffered a significant loss. Your therapist will help you to use the social support available and to ask for extra help when needed.