“I grieve because I loved her:” Bereaved parents’ perceptions of a mindfulness-based retreat

Abstract

Mindfulness-based interventions have recently been applied to grief-related distress. However, little is known about how bereaved participants experience them. This study explored bereaved parents’ experiences of a mindfulness-based grief retreat through semi-structured interviews with 19 participants. Interview transcripts were thematically analyzed to gain an understanding of how participants experienced the retreat and its perceived effect on their lives. Four themes representing the perceived benefits of the retreat emerged: psychoeducation, mindfulness, mutual support and understanding, and relationships. The mindfulness-based retreat was generally experienced as beneficial in coping with the death of a child.

Acknowledgement

Kara Thieleman currently serves as a Research Assistant on a separate project through the MISS Foundation, which provided the retreat referenced in this study. Joanne Cacciatore is the founder of the MISS Foundation. This study consists of analysis of interview transcripts; thus, there is no database to share. Interview transcripts, redacted to protect participant confidentiality, can be provided upon request from the corresponding author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).