A Qualitative Study on Experience of Disenfranchised Grief Counseling

This study was conducted qualitatively to reveal counselors’ experience in counseling clients with disenfranchised grief, and to understand the disenfranchised grief in depth. First, clients were deprived of grief or disenfranchised themselves due to the social expectations, family rules, and a sense of guilt. Second, the clients felt isolated and suffered from interpersonal stress. In sessions, they repeated certain episodes, expressed strong emotions or suppressed the grief. Third, the counselors tried to connect the main issues to the disenfranchised grief and helped the client reconstruct the narratives. For this purpose, they explored the context of disenfranchised grief, validated the various responses, and helped the clients recover their social relationships. Finally, the counselors found it difficult to understand the clients at first, but gradually they felt compassion. They thought grieving is a lengthy process and it need to be shared. The implications on disenfranchised grief counseling and counselor education are discussed.