Who developed the meaning reconstruction approach to grief?

• A. Robert Neimeyer and colleagues.
• B. Sigmund Freud and colleagues.
• C. Carl Jung and colleagues.
• D. John Bowlby.

Answer: (A)

The meaning reconstruction approach to grief focuses on how people rebuild meaning after a loss, rework their beliefs about the world, and reframe their life narrative in the wake of death. This perspective was developed by Robert A. Neimeyer and his colleagues, who emphasize helping survivors articulate and reframe the loss, explore disrupted beliefs, and find a sense of purpose or meaning in life moving forward. It’s about reconstructing how the world makes sense after bereavement, rather than just processing emotions or adjusting attachment.

Other figures mentioned are associated with different grief theories. Sigmund Freud is known for psychoanalytic ideas about mourning and fixation, Carl Jung for analytical psychology, and John Bowlby for attachment-based understandings of grief. While influential, they’re not the originators of the meaning reconstruction approach.