Complicated Grief in Canada: Exploring the Client and Professional Landscape

Complicated Grief in Canada: Exploring the Client and Professional Landscape
Marney R. Thompson, Allyson D. Whiteman, Karen D. Loucks, and  Helena M. L. Daudt
JOURNAL  OF LOSS AND TRAUMA
Bereavement Services, Victoria Hospice, British Columbia, Canada; Education and Research, Victoria Hospice 
ABSTRACT: Complicated  grief  (CG)  is  one  of  the  central  themes  in bereavement  research  and  advanced  clinical  practice  today. Using a mixed-methods approach, we wanted to learn (a) what tools  Canadian  practitioners  used  to  identify  or  diagnose  CG and  (b)  what  interventions  or  strategies  they  used  to  address CG.  Sixty-three  professionals  responded  to  our  survey.  There were no straightforward answers to these questions: the state-of-the art of CG in Canada is, in fact, complicated. Practitioners used  a  wide  assortment  of  tools  and  strategies  with  no consensus  on  any  one  approach  or  tool.  Building  a  Canadian CG community of practice was recommended.