Dialogical space in grief work: Integrating the alterity of loss

ABSTRACT

Research on grief is moving away from stage and task-oriented models. Instead, loss is reconceptualized as an event that will change mourners’ identity over time. The authors envision dynamic grief work as flowing from a dialogical engagement with loss, death, and illness; a terrain in which to begin a conversation with soul. A soul perspective challenges the prevailing call for efficiency, engages the voice of loss, and aims to bring value to the experience more than resolution. The process of rebecoming following bereavement is assisted by creating image-rich narratives that attend to and allow grief to express itself.