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cide Loss as a Crisis of Meaning: 2023 Intuition, Imagination and Innovation in Suicidology Conference
Basic Concepts
Invited lecture · Robert A. Neimeyer
Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychology,
University of Memphis, and maintains an active consulting and coaching prac-
tice. He also directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, which provides
online training internationally in grief therapy. Neimeyer has published 35 bo-
oks, including New Techniques of Grief Therapy: Bereavement and Beyond and
The Handbook of Grief Therapies, and serves as Editor of the journal Death Stu-
dies. The author of over 600 articles and book chapters and a frequent workshop
presenter, he is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving
as a meaning-making process. Neimeyer served as President of the Association
for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and Chair of the International Work
Group for Death, Dying, & Bereavement. In recognition of his scholarly contribu-
tions, he has been granted the Eminent Faculty Award by the University of Mem-
phis, made a Fellow of the Clinical Psychology Division of the American Psycho-
logical Association, and given Lifetime Achievement Awards by both ADEC and
the International Network on Personal Meaning.
Abstract. Research suggests that much of the complicated and prolonged
grief that frequently follows bereavement by suicide is mediated by its as-
sault on the survivor’s world of meaning, and the attendant struggle to ma-
ke sense of (a) the relationship to the deceased, (b) the death itself, and (c)
the survivor’s own identity in its aftermath. Viewing this struggle through the
lens of the Tripartite Model of Meaning Reconstruction in Loss, we will first
consider common obstacles to integrating such loss adaptively within survi-
vors’ meaning systems, and the implications this carries for the construction
of the therapeutic relationship as well as specific interventions to address
each impasse. Paradoxically, however, the same effort after meaning can be
a catalyst for posttraumatic growth, which studies suggest is facilitated by
identifiable psychological and social conditions. Illustrating these concepts
with brief client videos, we conclude with general guidelines for conducting
therapy with this traumatically bereaved population.
https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-251-0.8 17
Basic Concepts
Invited lecture · Robert A. Neimeyer
Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychology,
University of Memphis, and maintains an active consulting and coaching prac-
tice. He also directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, which provides
online training internationally in grief therapy. Neimeyer has published 35 bo-
oks, including New Techniques of Grief Therapy: Bereavement and Beyond and
The Handbook of Grief Therapies, and serves as Editor of the journal Death Stu-
dies. The author of over 600 articles and book chapters and a frequent workshop
presenter, he is currently working to advance a more adequate theory of grieving
as a meaning-making process. Neimeyer served as President of the Association
for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) and Chair of the International Work
Group for Death, Dying, & Bereavement. In recognition of his scholarly contribu-
tions, he has been granted the Eminent Faculty Award by the University of Mem-
phis, made a Fellow of the Clinical Psychology Division of the American Psycho-
logical Association, and given Lifetime Achievement Awards by both ADEC and
the International Network on Personal Meaning.
Abstract. Research suggests that much of the complicated and prolonged
grief that frequently follows bereavement by suicide is mediated by its as-
sault on the survivor’s world of meaning, and the attendant struggle to ma-
ke sense of (a) the relationship to the deceased, (b) the death itself, and (c)
the survivor’s own identity in its aftermath. Viewing this struggle through the
lens of the Tripartite Model of Meaning Reconstruction in Loss, we will first
consider common obstacles to integrating such loss adaptively within survi-
vors’ meaning systems, and the implications this carries for the construction
of the therapeutic relationship as well as specific interventions to address
each impasse. Paradoxically, however, the same effort after meaning can be
a catalyst for posttraumatic growth, which studies suggest is facilitated by
identifiable psychological and social conditions. Illustrating these concepts
with brief client videos, we conclude with general guidelines for conducting
therapy with this traumatically bereaved population.
https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-251-0.8 17
