The Lawlessness of Loss
Poetry and Autoethnographic Writing as Therapy in Grief and Loss
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13628592 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Melanie Williams (0000-0002-3609-207X, University of Exeter, corresponding author), Melanie L Williams (0009-0003-8225-2681, University of Exeter) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 93 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 302228241260937-302228241260937 |
| Publication date | 2024-06-13 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00302228241260937 |
| PMID | 38872245 |
| OpenAlex | W4399691073 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 26 |
This study seeks to locate and evaluate 'poetry therapy' as a form of therapeutic method for use by practitioners of humanistic psychotherapy especially when used in responding to the traumas associated with grief and loss. Following an initial survey of the literature, the study will explore some examples of the use of poetry therapy for grief, with an especial qualitative focus upon the insights to be gained from first-hand autoethnographic accounts. The study undertakes a literature review which also includes some consideration of peer-reviewed autoethnographic explorations authored by theorists and practitioners of psychotherapy in order to identify what additional insights, if any, may be gained from accessing these personal accounts of process. In particular, the humanist perspective upon grief should be tempered with pragmatism so as to avoid regarding poetry as a reductive sentimentalising of trauma: encountering loss may be seen as experiencing subjection to a 'lawless' world. The study confirms the use of poetry therapy and autoethnographic writing has significant utility and potential, whilst recognising the challenges for empirical confirmation, the need for practitioners to be sensitive to the nuances of the source materials and the subtlety of appropriate application for different client perspectives and groups
Aesthetics · Art · Autoethnography · Grief · Humanism · Humanistic psychology · Literature · Perspective (graphical · Poetry · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Psychotherapist · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Art Therapy and Mental Health · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Law · Mental Health via Writing · Psychology
Mourning Writing
Complicated Grief With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Addressed With Accelerated Resolution Therapy
What is worthwhile auto-ethnography? Research in the age of the selfie
Metaphor and Neonatal Death
Grief memoirs
Creative Writing after Traumatic Loss
Exercising Leadership Within the Therapeutic Alliance
The Ethnographic I
Philosophical Hermeneutics
Analytic Autoethnography
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |