Only the Living Can Witness the Passing of Death: Mourning in Times of Pandemic

Journal title QUADERNI DI GESTALT
Author/s Carmen Vázquez Bandín
Publishing Year 2021 Issue 2021/1 Language Italian
Pages 9 P. 91-99 File size 180 KB
DOI 10.3280/GEST2021-001010
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This report presents the special characteristics of the psychotherapy process with patient who are grieving the loss of a loved one. Because of the special background circumstances in which these losses have occurred - the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the 3-month lockdown because of , I have called these griefs suspended. In the article I offer the social background circumstances, the personal circumstances of the loss, and the therapeutic intervention with the special characteristics for both the therapist and the therapeutic setting. Finally, I offer some specific tools for working with this type of grief. All these consid-erations are made from the approach of Gestalt therapy as well as with the working model proposed by Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. This is coupled with my experience of more than 20 years in psychotherapeutic work with people who are living a grieving process.

Keywords: Grief, pandemic, loneliness, suffering, therapeutic bond.

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Carmen Vázquez Bandín, Solo i vivi possono assistere al passaggio della morte: il lutto al tempo della pandemia in "QUADERNI DI GESTALT" 1/2021, pp 91-99, DOI: 10.3280/GEST2021-001010