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Experience of application of the meaning-centered psychotherapy to Japanese bereaved family of patients with cancer – A mixed-method study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2022

Rumiko Koda Open the ORCID record for Rumiko Koda [Opens in a new window] ,
Daisuke Fujisawa ,
Mayu Kawaguchi  and
Hitoshi Kasai
Rumiko Koda*
Affiliation:
College of Humanities and Social Sciences Academic Institute, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan
Daisuke Fujisawa
Affiliation:
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Mayu Kawaguchi
Affiliation:
Rehabilitation Department, Shonan Keiiku Hospital, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan
Hitoshi Kasai
Affiliation:
College of Humanities and Social Sciences Academic Institute, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, Shizuoka, Japan
*
Author for correspondence: Rumiko Koda, College of Humanities and Social Sciences Academic Institute, Shizuoka University, 836 Ohya Suruga-ku, Shizuoka 422-8529, Japan. Email: kohda.rumiko@shizuoka.ac.jp
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Abstract

Objectives

This study aimed to adapt the meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP) to treat post-bereavement grief in Japanese bereaved families who lost their loved ones to cancer and to examine the feasibility of the intervention using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Methods

A modified version of MCP was developed with cultural consideration. Bereaved individuals aged ≥18 years who had lost their family members to cancer at least 6 months before and had severe or persistent grief with a score of ≥26 on the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG-19) were included in the study. The participants received the modified version of MCP, which was provided in a 5-session monthly format. The levels of grief (ICG-19), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D]), general health (General Health Questionnaire-12), and post-traumatic growth (Post-traumatic Growth Inventory -Short Form) were compared before and after the intervention.

Results

Five bereaved individuals were enrolled, and all the participants completed the program. The mean scores of the ICG-19. The participants’ sense of regret, guilt, and being separated from the deceased person gradually shifted to the reappraisal of the experience, leading to a broadened view of the relationship with the deceased, and rediscovery of the core values, identity, and roles of the participants through the process of rediscovery of the meaning of life.

Significance of results

A modified version of the MCP was well accepted by Japanese bereaved families. The intervention appears to promote the rediscovery of the meaning of life and appears to have the potential to alleviate the bereaved individuals’ depression and grief-related symptoms and to facilitate their post-traumatic growth.

Keywords

BereavementBrief psychotherapyDepressionMeaningProlonged grief
Type
Original Article
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , August 2023 , pp. 594 - 602
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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