Engaging in ritual after client suicide

The critical importance of linking objects for therapists

Bibliographic Data

ID20160066
AuthorsJane Clark (0000-0001-9396-2193, University of New England, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume33
Issue2
Pages70-76
Publication date2014-05-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBereavement Care (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0268-2621 • E-ISSN: 1944-8279
PublisherCruse Bereavement Care (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02682621.2014.933574
OpenAlexW2044670760
LanguageEN
References cited35

Within the counselling field it has long been known that engaging in ritual after the loss of a significant other has positive therapeutic benefits for the mourner. In contrast, little is understood about therapists’ experiences of ritual in response to their clients’ deaths by suicide. Based on interviews with six therapists whose clients had died by this means, this article explores the place of ritual in these individuals’ lives. Little evidence was found to suggest that the need for therapists to engage in ritual, post-client suicide, was recognised, supported or met, by others. As a result, the grief of these therapists became disenfranchised, transforming them into ‘forgotten mourners’ and forcing them to engage in ‘peripheral’ rituals using linking objects. It is hoped that this article, by highlighting the critical importance of ritual for therapists mourning the loss of a client by suicide, will help to ameliorate the current void in the literature relating to this issue

Grief · Psychotherapist · Therapeutic relationship · Counseling Practices and Supervision · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications