Date of Award
Summer 8-23-2025
Document Type
Doctoral Research Paper
Degree Name
Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology
Organizational Unit
Graduate School of Professional Psychology
First Advisor
Shelly Smith-Acuña
Second Advisor
Lou Felipe
Third Advisor
Sara Metz
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
Sibling loss, Sibling death, Sibling bereavement, Decolonizing grief, Decolonizing psychology, African American women, Black women, Grief in the African American community, Traditional grief, Stages of grief, Prolonged grief disorder, Complicated grief, Cultural humility, Existential humanistic therapy, Acceptance and commitment therapy, Autoethnography
Abstract
The main purpose of this paper is to assist therapists who are working with African American women experiencing grief due to the death of a sibling and is based on the personal reflection of a doctoral-level student of clinical psychology. After losing their sister, the author received therapy from two sources. After time in treatment and research to better understand their situation, the author realized the differences between traditional practices and culturally responsive techniques that were beneficial.
According to the literature, the etiology of traditional grief therapy stems from Freud’s perspective, illustrated in his essay Mourning and Melancholia. In his essay, Freud described grief as “normal” when the individual can acknowledge and work through their bereavement and pathological when the loss leads to confusion and internal conflict (Freud, 1914). It is similar to the approach the author received from their therapist, who was quick to diagnose their grief as abnormal. The author also discusses another heavily used theory used by her first therapist, The Five Stages of Grief, which, too, failed to target the complexities of what they were feeling (Kübler-Ross & Kessler, 2005; Stroebe et al., 2017). Following a more beneficial experience with another therapist, this author recognized that this therapist had utilized a more culturallysensitive, decolonized approach. Using an autoethnography approach, this paper will discuss methods that could help therapists tackle grief and treat grief from a different purview (e.g., a decolonized, existential-humanistic (EH) lens), and share how these concepts, along with cultural humility, are an avenue to seeing bereavement outside a Westernized perspective. This document also proposes that psychoeducation on the embodiment of grief is a possible way to help clients process their bereavement and feel validated.
Copyright Date
5-20-2025
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the author. This work may only be accessed by members of the University of Denver community. The work is provided by permission of the author for individual research purposes only and may not be further copied or distributed. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Rights Holder
Laura Loe NB Bock
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
32 pgs
File Size
262 KB
Recommended Citation
Bock, Laura Loe NB, "Supporting African American Women Through Sibling Loss" (2025). Restricted Access ETDs. 121.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/restrictedetd/121