Abstract

MILLAN-GONZALEZ, Ricardo  and  SOLANO-MEDINA, Nicolás. Grief, Complicated Grief and Interpersonal Psychotherapy. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2010, vol.39, n.2, pp.375-388. ISSN 0034-7450.

Introduction: Grief is a natural reaction human beings face when a loved one dies or a particular status is lost. Complicated grief (CG) is an independent construct that describes greater severity and longer duration as a consequence of a particular loss, which is qualitatively different from mood disorders. Interpersonal psychotherapy (IP) uses four main elements to approach patients, one of which is grief. Objective: To review the scientific literature regarding grief, complicated grief and its treatment with IP. Results: There are some studies that support the use of IP in the treatment of depression and other psychiatric conditions, but only a few have addressed grief or CG directly. Conclusions: Most IP studies do not make the distinction between normal grief, CG and other mood and anxiety disorders. Thus, its real usefulness when facing this scenario is unknown. More research having in mind these differences would yield stronger conclusions.

Keywords : Grief; psychotherapy; literature review.

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