Results from a systematic writing program in grief process: part 2

Figures & data

Table 1 Participants and background information (N = 10 women and 3 men)

Age	20–59 years
Time since loss	4 months–1.5 years
Type of loss	Expected/unexpected death
Group assignment	spouse or cohabitant parent or sibling

Table 2 Organization, writing situations, and topics of the writing program

Organization	10 meetings over 5 months (in total): – Every second week for 3 months, for 2.5 h – Once a month thereafter, for 2.5 h
Writing situations and topics
Meeting	Group writing	Home writing
1	Writing about the present life situation	Writing diary
2	A description of the person who is lost	Writing diary
3	A story about an important occasion spent with the person who is lost	Writing diary
4	Writing a letter/obituary for the lost person	Writing diary
5	Defining “despair” and “guilt”	Writing diary
6	Writing a story based on pictures that illustrate different aspects of grief experience	Home writing based on a previous theme; writing diary
7	Defining loss and loneliness	Home writing about a good memory; writing diary
8	Previous and present relationship to important persons	Home writing about good and bad thoughts and feelings experienced during the last few days; writing diary
9	Experience of grief, longing, hope, and joy	Home writing about situations related to a strong feeling of grief/situations related to joy; writing diary
10	Writing about the things that are important to know; the capacity to meet the new life situation; a meaningful life; and future plans

Table 3 Example of the clarification of stages 2 and 3 of the analysis process

Meaning unit What is said	Significance What it is about	Theme Writing yields new thoughts and increases knowledge
“the spectrum of my mind expands”	The creative elements of writing	Writing leads to new thoughts
“the thoughts came as I wrote”	New questions arise as a result of writing	Writing promotes thinking
“many more thoughts appear than usually”
“the words came floating”
“the writing ended up with lots of questions”
“I became more aware of what I struggle with”	Clarification related to writing	Writing expands insight
“analyzing, self-analysis of the thoughts”	Awareness of writing
“being aware of my thoughts”
“sometimes explanations of why come up”
“the writing gave me an ‘aha’ experience”
“progress in the process”	Expanded perspective	Writing as understanding
“I advanced in the process”	Clarification related to writing	Writing as discovery and insight
“the writing is a tool to make progress”	Awareness of writing
“discover what is important to me”
“makes me aware of other aspects”
And so on ...	And so on ...	And so on ...