C/PS/54. Cognitive behavioural therapy as applied to bereavement counselling

The paper examines how cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be applied to bereavement counselling. Different responses to bereavement are outlined and the symptoms and causes discussed. Cognitive behavioural techniques and methods are described with the focus on the thinking patterns of those who suffer chronic grief reactions. The notion of metacognition, as a CBT technique, is described as a way of helping sufferers to cope with grief through changing negative thought processes. CBT, however, is held to be useful only in the counselling of grief in relation to guilt or blame and relatively ineffective for more chronic conditions associated with bereavement such as depression. CBT is shown to have potential for future development in bereavement counselling.