ABSTRACT
Experiencing the continued presence of the deceased is common among the bereaved, whether as a sensory perception or as a felt presence. This phenomenon has been researched from psychological and psychiatric perspectives during the last five decades. Such experiences have been also documented in the ethnographic literature but, despite the extensive cross-cultural research in the area, anthropological data has generally not been considered in the psychological literature about this phenomenon. This paper provides an overview aimed at bridging these two areas of knowledge, and approaches the post-bereavement perception or hallucination of the deceased in cultural context. Ongoing debates are addressed from the vantage point of ethnographic and clinical case study research focusing on the cultural repertoires (in constant flux as cultures change) from which these experiences are labelled as desirable and normal, on the one hand, or as dangerous and pathological, on the other.
Subject(s)
Bereavement , Grief , Humans , Hallucinations , PerceptionABSTRACT
Enmarcada en la orientación humanista-existencial, y con más de ochenta años de historia, la psicoterapia centrada en la persona continúa siendo uno de los principales sistemas de inter-vención psicológica. Las ideas de su principal creador, Carl R. Rogers,han sido claves en el desarrollo de la investigación y el ejercicio de la psicoterapia tal y como la conocemos en la actualidad, tanto dentro como fuera de las fronteras de la orientación. Tras una introducción a la teoría psicopatológica y psicoterapéutica que subyace al sistema, este artículo se centra tan-to en los nuevos desarrollos dentro de la teoría rogeriana como en la investigación llevada a cabo hasta el momento sobre ella. Revisando algunos de los debates centrales en el ámbito, desde la perspectiva del siglo XXI, el artículo concluye con una reflexión sobre la situación ac-tual del sistema. (AU)
Person-centred therapy, a therapeutic modality situated within the humanistic-existential ap-proach, continues to be a key form of psychological intervention eight decades after its foun-dation. The ideas of its main founder, Carl Rogers, have been central in the development of psychotherapy research and practice as we know it today, within the boundaries of the hu-manistic-existential approach and beyond. First, the article introduces the psychopathological and psychotherapeutic theory that underlie the person-centred approach. It then focuses on recent developments within Rogerian theory, as well as on research on person-centred therapy conducted to date. After reviewing some ongoing debates in the field, from a 21stcentury per-spective, the article concludes by reflecting on the current situation of the approach. (AU)
Subject(s)
Person-Centered Psychotherapy , ExistentialismABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Experiences of presence, involving the sensory perception or felt presence of the deceased, are common amongst the bereaved (30-60%). Despite them being predominantly comforting and reassuring, a minority (approximately 25%) report ambivalent or distressing experiences. The study's aim was to explore how psychotherapy is practised with this subset. METHOD: A mixed-method approach, involving both quantitative analysis and thematic analysis, was used to analyse data from an online survey, conducted in English and Spanish, amongst mental health therapists (i.e., psychologists, psychotherapists, and counsellors). Seventy responded to the survey and four of them were further interviewed. RESULTS: The participants primarily framed interventions for ambivalent-to-distressing experiences of presence as grief therapy, with the severity of the presentation as the main factor influencing their clinical decision-making, but several perspectives co-existed regarding how to intervene. These discourses were categorized into two themes: 'A normalising and exploratory psychotherapy' and 'A grief stages psychotherapy'. The main sources of patient's distress, as understood by the sample, were located in the bereaved-departed relationship, in pre-existing mental health issues, and in a societal taboo or stigma. CONCLUSION: After comparing and contrasting the participants' working hypotheses with existing knowledge on experiences of presence, and contemporary theories in the research area, guidelines are presented on how to intervene with people disturbed by their experiences of presence. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Perceiving the deceased person, or feeling their presence, is common and normal amongst bereaved people. When these experiences are distressing or ambivalent, therapists' share that psychological suffering may originate from the departed-bereaved relationship, pre-existing mental health issues, or the effect of societal taboo or stigma. Psychotherapy is frequently aimed at normalizing, accepting, supporting, and exploring patient's experience.
Subject(s)
Bereavement , Grief , Hallucinations , Humans , Psychotherapy , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Bereaved people often report having sensory and quasi-sensory experiences of the deceased (SED), and there is an ongoing debate over whether SED are associated with pathology, such as grief complications. Research into these experiences has been conducted in various disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, and anthropology, without much crossover. This review brings these areas of research together, drawing on the expertise of an interdisciplinary working group formed as part of the International Consortium for Hallucination Research (ICHR). It examines existing evidence on the phenomenology, associated factors, and impact of SED, including the role of culture, and discusses the main theories on SED and how these phenomena compare with unusual experiences in other contexts. The review concludes that the vast majority of these experiences are benign and that they should be considered in light of their biographical, relational, and sociocultural contexts.
