27-29 These treatments have been tested with children.30-34 and adults10,22,35 and have included interventions for inpatients,36 refugees,17 couples,37 parents,35 and those bereaved by war,38 natural disasters,39 accidents,23 suicide,40 and violence.41 #find more randurls[1|1|,|CHEM1|]# MLN8237 Relatively few of these interventions have targeted

complicated grief (CG) symptoms specifically rather than depression and distress more generally. Three review articles have described the literature on these CG-specific interventions.42-41 The most recent, a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials, found a pooled standard mean difference (a measure of effect Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical size) of -0.53 (95% CI: -1.00 to -0.07) favoring interventions targeting complicated grief relative to supportive counseling, IPT, or wait list.43 The four interventions that were more efficacious than the comparison condition were all based, at least in part, Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical on cognitive-behavioral principles. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical 14,24,45 An interpretive intervention focused on increasing clients* insight about conflict and trauma related to their loss was not efficacious.46,47 The effects of the CG interventions appeared to grow larger at follow-up, although long-term data were only available from a single

study.14 One form of complicated grief therapy (CGT) with strong empirical support has roots in both IPT and CBT45 CGT is based on attachment theory, which holds that humans are biologically programmed to seek, form, and maintain close relationships. Attachment figures are people with whom proximity Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical is sought and Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical separation resisted; they provide a ”safe haven“ of support and reassurance under stress and a ”secure base“ of support for autonomy and competence that facilitates exploration of the world. In acute

grief following the loss of an attachment figure, the attachment system is disrupted, often leading Anacetrapib to a sense of disbelief, painful emotions, intrusive thoughts of the deceased individual, and inhibition of the exploratory system.48 With successful mourning, the individual moves from a state of acute grief to integrated grief in which the finality of the loss is acknowledged, the trauma of the loss is resolved, emotions become more positive or bittersweet, the mental representation is revised to encompass the death of the attachment figure, and the exploratory system is reactivated, with life goals revised to integrate the consequences of the loss. This occurs through a ”dual-process model,“ with both loss- and restoration-focused activities.