Campus Location

Abilene Campus (Residential)

Date of Award

12-2007

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Graduate School of Theology

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

Committee Chair or Primary Advisor

Charles Siebert

Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor

Frederick D. Aquino

Third Committee Member or Committee Reader

Tim Sensing

Abstract

This thesis demonstrates the value of a constructive narrative approach to grief. The theological construct is based on the Gospel of Mark and using Paul Ricoeur's framework of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. Some theoretical insights from narrative therapy provide an understanding for the importance of telling stories as a way to integrate loss into one's life. A six-week curriculum provides bereaved participants with information to teach about the process of grief and a scriptural perspective of that process. The goal is to provide several opportunities for the bereaved to tell the story of their loss. Seven of the participants who attended at least five of the six sessions were interviewed following the class to tell their story and share any changes of perspective on the process of grief.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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