‘Endlessly worth understanding’: a phenomenological exploration of the experience of grieving

"Abstract: This paper offers an autoethnographic exploration of the phenomenology of grieving, arising from the author’s experience following the death of her close friend. The paper explores several themes which emerge heuristically from that individual experience, namely: grieving as an existential struggle; the embodied experience of grieving; how grieving challenges and destabilises language and theory; recognising grieving as an unfolding process and as part of the situation, rather than located in the individual; and grieving as a universal yet unique experience. The author’s personal experience is used as a springboard to reflect on the opportunities that Gestalt therapy theory and practice might afford grieving clients. The paper compares the Gestalt approach with a selection of contemporary grief theories. Keywords: grief, phenomenology, death, murder, existential concerns, embodiment."