This qualitative study aimed to explore the potential role that might be played by the reported experience of ‘sensing the presence of the deceased’ in meaning-making processes in bereavement. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 12 participants who reported having had such an experience and the transcripts were subjected to thematic analysis. Seven overarching themes were identified, 3 of which were considered central: ‘finding benefit in the continuation of the deceased’, ‘finding benefit in the continued relationship’, and ‘finding meaning through existential, spiritual, and religious sense-making’. While participants found many benefits in what they experienced, finding meaning beyond immediate coping seemed to require the availability of spiritual/religious frameworks that could be adopted or, if available but discrepant, could meaningfully accommodate the experience.

Sense of presence experiences and meaning-making in bereavement: a qualitative analysis.

Young people living with parental bereavement: Insights from an ethnographic study of a UK childhood bereavement service

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This article explores the possibility of conceptualising the frequently occurring experience of “sensing the presence of the deceased” in bereavement as a spiritual phenomenon and examines how such a conceptualisation can be related to two recent perspectives in the field of bereavement research, “continuing bonds” and “meaning-making.” It is argued that “sense of presence” experiences are expressions of the continuing relationship with the deceased that can be spiritually understood but that pose various challenges for their meaningful integration into the bereaved person's worldview or meaning structures–something that may need to be more explicitly incorporated into current theoretical frameworks. It is suggested that these experiences can be the catalyst for “post-traumatic growth” through a socially mediated and interactive narrative exploration and that this has important implications for bereavement counselling and therapy.

Can “sense of presence” experiences in bereavement be conceptualised as spiritual phenomena?

Bereaved people often report having sensory and quasi-sensory experiences of the deceased (SED), and there is an ongoing debate over whether SED are associated with pathology, such as grief complications. Research into these experiences has been conducted in various disciplines, including psychiatry, psychology, and anthropology, without much crossover. This review brings these areas of research together, drawing on the expertise of an interdisciplinary working group formed as part of the International Consortium for Hallucination Research (ICHR). It examines existing evidence on the phenomenology, associated factors, and impact of SED, including the role of culture, and discusses the main theories on SED and how these phenomena compare with unusual experiences in other contexts. The review concludes that the vast majority of these experiences are benign and that they should be considered in light of their biographical, relational, and sociocultural contexts.

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Sensory and Quasi-Sensory Experiences of the Deceased in Bereavement: An Interdisciplinary and Integrative Review

The nature of the ongoing bond between the bereaved and the deceased has attracted some considerable attention in recent years. Early theorists proposed that the continuing maintenance of such a bond is indicative of a failure to adjust to the loss, whereas more recent work has questioned the validity of this position. Problematic within these opposing positions is the fact that many different theorists and researchers have operationalized the notion of “continuing bonds” in different ways, and consequently have found different relationships with adjustment. The current study investigated the different types of ongoing bonds endorsed by a group of spousally-bereaved participants (n = 45), and by subjecting the results to principal components analysis found three independent facets of continuing bonds: sensing the presence of the deceased, communicating with the deceased and re-living the relationship, and dreaming of and yearning for the deceased. Each of these factors was found to have a differe...

The continuing bond of the bereaved towards the deceased and adjustment to loss

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The continuing bond of the bereaved towards the deceased and adjustment to loss