The team at the Chair of Clinical and Biological Psychology has been researching the topic of grief for many years. Different studies carried out amongst others addressed prolonged grief disorder as a mental illness that can hit after a loss. The disorder was only recently recognized as a distinct syndrome. Led by KU psychologists, a special form of psychotherapy is currently being tested in treatment centers around the country. Compared to normal grief processes, prolonged grief disorder is amongst others characterized by the fact that the everyday life of persons affected is still significantly compromised even after more than six months following the loss of a loved one. In addition to the therapy for the disease, the Chair is also working on recommendations for grief counseling as part of the “TROST” (German for: consolation) project. It is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry for Family, Labor and Social Affairs.
“Even ‘healthy’ grief processes can be really hard. This is why we want to find out what kind of support grieving persons need in their daily life and when the burden gets so heavy that they need to fall back on professional help such as grief counseling. In our current project, we want to find out about the public opinion on how much grief is ‘normal’ and when people think persons affected should get help. These questions are barely investigated to date”, says Christina Hanauer, research associate at the Chair of Clinical and Biological Psychology.
The study investigates how people perceive grief in other persons, what advice they would offer and when they would recommend those grieving to get professional help. In the long term, the researchers want to help improve the support offered for grieving persons.
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