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A cognitive approach to persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2017

Michael Duffy  and
Jennifer Wild
Michael Duffy*
Affiliation:
Queen's University Belfast, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Belfast
Jennifer Wild
Affiliation:
University of Oxford–Experimental Psychology, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD
*
*Author for correspondence: Dr Michael Duffy, Queen's University Belfast, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Belfast. E-mail: michael.duffy@qub.ac.uk
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Abstract

Persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD) has been included in the appendix of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders as a condition for further study, and a new diagnostic category of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) is likely to be added to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-11) (Maercker et al., 2013). Whilst there is increasing evidence that prolonged grief has distinct characteristics (Bryant, 2012), there are clinical features that overlap with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as intrusive memories, emotional numbing, and avoidance of trauma or loss reminders. Here we describe how the cognitive model for persistent PTSD (Ehlers and Clark, 2000) and trauma-focused cognitive therapy for PTSD (Ehlers et al., 2005) have been helpful in treating persistent complex grief.

Keywords

cognitive therapymemoryPTSDtraumatic stress

Information

Type
Special Issue: Complexity within Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Information
the Cognitive Behaviour Therapist , Volume 10 , 2017 , e16
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2017 

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References

Further reading

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