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Katrin Neubacher is a 2015 graduate of the PsyD Program in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University, New England

Dissertation Committee

Theodore Ellenhorn, PhD, Committee Chair
Martha Straus, PhD, Committee Member
Porter Eagan, PhD, Committee Member

Keywords

grief, death, childhood, sibling, recovery, interpretive phenomenological analysis, early experience

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2015

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the experience of the death of a sibling in childhood. Seven memoirs written by individuals who lost a sibling in childhood were analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Themes focused on the child’s lived experience of sibling loss, parental and familial function, and factors identified as supporting the child’s grieving and functioning. Where relevant, an in-depth review of the existing literature of relevant psychological research and theories supported and expanded on the themes identified in the narratives. As the purpose of this research was to inform a model for understanding the life and grief of a bereaved sibling, the study informed ways in which to facilitate the child’s grieving process in the therapeutic setting and concrete implications for mental health treatment were identified.

Comments

ORCID Scholar ID #: 0000-0002-8958-7973

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