AUTHOR=Lehmann Olga V. , Neimeyer Robert A. , Thimm Jens , Hjeltnes Aslak , Lengelle Reinekke , Kalstad Trine Giving TITLE=Experiences of Norwegian Mothers Attending an Online Course of Therapeutic Writing Following the Unexpected Death of a Child JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021 YEAR=2022 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.809848 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.809848 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=
The unexpected death of a child is one of the most challenging losses as it fractures survivors’ sense of parenthood and other layers of identity. Given that not all the bereaved parents who have need for support respond well to available treatments and that many have little access to further intervention or follow-up over time, online interventions featuring therapeutic writing and peer support have strong potential. In this article we explore how a group of bereaved mothers experienced the process of participating in an online course in therapeutic writing for the integration of grief. Our research questions were: How do parents who have lost a child experience being part of an online course in therapeutic writing? What are the perceived benefits and challenges of writing in processing their grief? We followed an existential phenomenological approach and analyzed fieldwork notes (