“Broken Together”: Spirituality and Religion as Coping Strategies for Couples Dealing with the Death of a Child: A Literature Review with Clinical Implications
Keywords
Couples, Death of a child, Spirituality/religion, Emotionally focused couple therapy
Abstract
The death of a child is an event that can fall into the category of uncontrollable life events, testing the limits of the ability to control of bereaved parents. The literature reviewed showed that religious/spiritual coping is a unique way of coping and may be particularly important for couples who have lost a child. When assessing the couples’ coping strategies, marital therapists would be wise to look for religious/spiritual mechanisms that can be employed in the therapeutic process. Furthermore, the reviewers propose Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (Johnson, 2004, The practice of emotionally focused couple therapy: Creating connection, Routledge, New York) as well suited for helping couples grieving the death of their child.
Original Publication Citation
Ungureanu, I., & Sandberg, J.G. (2010). “Broken Together”: Spirituality and religion as coping strategies for couples dealing with the death of a child: A literature review with clinical implications. Contemporary Family Therapy, 32(3), 302-319.
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Ungureanu, Ileana and Sandberg, Jonathan G., "“Broken Together”: Spirituality and Religion as Coping Strategies for Couples Dealing with the Death of a Child: A Literature Review with Clinical Implications" (2010). Faculty Publications. 2446.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/facpub/2446
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
2010-6
Permanent URL
http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5291
Publisher
Contemporary Family Therapy
Language
English
College
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Department
Family Life
Copyright Status
Springer LLC 2010