Narrative Therapy in Complicated Grief: A Systematic Literature Review

The present article focuses on a tertiary intervention based on a systematic literature review guided by PRISMA which explores the contributions of narrative therapy and Constructivist-narrative strategies in the transformation of the process from complicated mourning to normal mourning [1]. It is intended to target the scientific community and mental health professionals in providing care to individuals facing complicated grief. We hope to advance scientific knowledge and provide an empirical basis for future studies and the development of more effective constructivist-narrative clinical interventions. We analyzed 21 studies in order to present the most current narrative and constructivist-narrative interventions (last five years: 2019-2023), fulfilling the predefined objectives. The results are organized into three categories of analysis: (i) cognitive-narrative therapy; (ii) constructivist-narrative strategies, including meaning reconstruction approaches, group therapies and integrative treatments; (iii) therapeutic writing. It includes current studies that investigate the effectiveness of narrative therapy in complicated mourning, and we observed that constructivist-narrative strategies appear to be flexible and effective, capable of adapting to the specific needs of individuals in mourning, regardless of the circumstance, type of loss and relationship as deceased.