Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Complicated Grief Reactions : Treatment Protocol and Preliminary Findings From a Naturalistic Setting

In bereavement, some individuals develop complicated grief reactions (CGR), including symptoms of prolonged grief disorder (PGD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression. Symptoms of PGD often co-occur with other complicated grief reactions, e.g., PTSD and depression, pointing to the need for a transdiagnostic understanding of CGR to inform treatment. In this paper, a transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy for CGR called “CBTgrief” is explained, including its theoretical framework and treatment content. CBTgrief is based on previous cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of PGD, PTSD, and depression and includes 12 sessions consisting of exposure, cognitive restructuring, and behavioral activation. Preliminary findings of CBTgrief are evaluated in terms of feasibility, acceptability, and treatment satisfaction in a sample of eight older bereaved individuals treated for different types of CGR in a naturalistic clinical setting. Additionally, theory-driven hypotheses about changes in CGR and theoretical proposed core maintaining processes are evaluated using Bayesian informative hypotheses testing. Preliminary findings, limitations, implications, and future directions are discussed.

Highlights

•  The theory and treatment content of CBTgrief is introduced.

•  Preliminary results indicate large reductions in PGD, PTSD, and depression.

•  Theoretically proposed core maintaining processes decline during therapy.

•  CBTgrief is found to be a feasible and acceptable therapy for bereaved individuals.

•  Results support the evaluation of CBTgrief in larger randomized controlled trials.