The Paradox of Loss Toward a Relational Theory of Grief

Subjects:

• Psychology » Clinical Psychology
• Psychology » Psychology (General)

Reviews:

• Most psychological theories of grief over the death of a loved one describe grief as a process that moves through stages to a resolution. McCabe offers a new theory, one that presents grief as an ongoing experience in which various expressions of grief come and go recursively as the grieving individual interacts with life events. Taking issue with the idea that long-lasting grief is necessarily pathological, the author suggests that the relationship with the dead person continues to exist on a variety of levels indefinitely....Comprehensive graduate collections supporting psychology, social work, and nursing programs.
  —Choice October 2004

Table of Contents:

• Foreword by Donald Polkinghorne
• Acknowledgments
• What Is Wrong with Prevailing Grief Models?
• Introduction
• Grief Theory and Subjective Accounts
• The Biases beneath Grief Theory
• Developing a Relational Theory of Grief
• A Personal Account of Loss
• The Paradox of Loss and the Relationship between Self and Other
• Time, Death, Knowing, and Memory
• The Meaning of a Relational Approach
• Bibliography
• Index