Positive Experiences for Participants in Suicide Bereavement Groups: A Grounded Theory Model

Abstract

Grounded Theory was used to examine the experiences of 13 participants who had attended psycho-educational support groups for those bereaved by suicide. Results demonstrated core and central categories that fit well with group therapeutic factors developed by I. D. Yalom (1995) and emphasized the importance of universality, imparting information and instilling hope, catharsis and self-disclosure, and broader meaning-making processes surrounding acceptance or adjustment. Participants were commonly engaged in a lengthy process of oscillating between loss-oriented and restoration-focused reappraisals. The functional experience of the group comprised feeling normal within the group, providing a sense of permission to feel and to express emotions and thoughts and to bestow meaning. Structural variables of information and guidance and different perspectives on the suicide and bereavement were gained from other participants, the facilitators, group content, and process. Personal changes, including in relationships and in their sense of self, assisted participants to develop an altered and more positive personal narrative.

Acknowledgments

We are extremely grateful to the suicide bereavement group participants who took part in these interviews. Their generosity in giving additional time and sharing their experiences has helped give some insights into this very complex and painful area. We hope this study will be able to assist others bereaved by suicide through enhancing future groups. Thanks also to the group facilitators who assisted with the research process and Julie Aganoff (General Manager Programs, Lifeline Community Care Brisbane) who made this collaboration possible.

The suicide bereavement groups run by Lifeline Community Care Brisbane in 2007 and 2008 were funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing as an adjunct to the StandBy Response Service.