Essay About Unresolved Grief And Attachment Perspective

Unresolved Grief and Continuing Bonds: An Attachment Perspective
UNRESOLVED GRIEF AND CONTINUING BONDS:
AN ATTACHMENT PERSPECTIVE
Much of the contemporary bereavement literature on the continuing bond to the
deceased (CB) has emphasized its adaptiveness and given limited attention to
when it may be maladaptive. The attachment literature on disorganized–
unresolved attachment classification in relation to loss, or ‘‘unresolved loss, is
informative in identifying CB expressions that are indicative of failure to
integrate the death of a loved one. In this article, an important linkage is identified
between a prominent indicator of unresolved loss that involves a lapse in the
monitoring of reasoning implying disbelief that the person is dead and the clinical
writings of J. Bowlby (1980) and V. D. Volkan (1981) on maladaptive variants
of CB expression. The aim is to highlight the value of the attachment literature on
unresolved loss in clarifying the conditions under which CB is likely to be
maladaptive.
There is increasing agreement among bereavement theorists and
practitioners that an ongoing attachment to the deceased can be
an integral part of successful adaptation to bereavement (Klass,
Silverman, & Nickman, 1996). This position, commonly known
as the ‘‘continuing bonds perspective, is counter to that presented
by Freud (1917=1957) in his classic work ‘‘Mourning and Melancholia,
in which he proposed that successful adaptation to loss
required the bereaved to detach his or her psychic investment in
the deceased, or ‘‘relinquish his or her attachment to the
deceased, in order to complete the mourning process.
Much of the bereavement literature on the continuing bond to
the deceased (CB) has emphasized its adaptiveness while paying
minimal attention to conditions under which it may be maladaptive
(Fraley & Shaver, 1999). Despite its value in identifying CB
as a normative aspect of bereavement adjustment,