Psychology Today59%
Recovering From the Death of a Loved One 5%
By Wendy L. Patrick0% J.D.0% M.Div.0% Ph.D.26%
7/29/2026, 2:01:45 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 5 faulty reasoning types, including False Dilemma, Optimism Bias, and Hasty Generalization, with Representativeness Heuristic as the most egregious example at 12.1% saturation with 77 hits. Analysis detected 220 faulty-reasoning hits from 636 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 18.1% and a BS Rank of 5% (21,815 of 22,840 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 95.50% of the article peer group.
One of the most painful types of loss is losing a loved one.
Whether mourning the death of a spouse, parent, or child, everyone processes loss differently and at a different pace.
Considering the universal experience of personal loss, which can be devastating, thankfully, there is a road to recovery.
From Grief to Growth: Coping Strategies
Marta Pereira et al. (2026) examined the pathway from grief to growth through the role of coping strategies.
Acknowledging prior research focused primarily on the post-traumatic consequences of grief, they sought to learn more about factors linked with capacity for recovery and growth.
Pereira et al. note that post traumatic growth (PTG) refers to “a positive transformation resulting from facing a traumatic life event,” a construct including changes in goals, behaviors, beliefs, and identity.
PTG includes cognitive processes which encompass the search for meaning, and depends on each person’s subjective interpretation post-trauma, as well as the severity attributed to the event.
Coping strategies are important after the death of a loved one.
Pereira et al. report that active coping strategies, creating sense and meaning, and rumination have fundamental roles in experiencing PTG.
Although they acknowledge that it is impossible to predict how effective coping strategies will be in dealing with grief, two types of strategies are important: problem-focused (PFC) versus emotion-focused (EMC), and they also distinguish between confrontation versus avoidance in dealing with emotions.
Pereira et al. describe problem-focused coping as involving “an active role in managing and resolving the problem that causes distress, primarily focusing on finding a solution,” and emotion-focused as a style of coping that regulates emotional responses to the event.
They note that emotional management involves two types of strategies as well: active and avoidant.
They explain that active emotional coping involves expressing emotions or cognitive re-evaluations of stress, where avoidant emotional coping involves evading or suppressing emotional responses.
Great Loss Often Prompts Great Recovery
Using a community sample of 889 adults who had lost a loved one, Pereira et al. found that emotion-focused and problem-focused coping strategies were the variables that mediated the relationship between the impact of loss and experiencing post-traumatic growth, specifically when losing a child or a spouse.
They concluded that people who experience a greater amount of suffering are also the ones who experience higher levels of post-traumatic growth.
Regarding gender, Pereira et al. observed that women displayed higher levels of PTG compared to men, and noted that they engage in more deliberate rumination—which has a critical role in the redevelopment of a workable belief system following a traumatic event such as the loss of a loved one, resulting in a greater experience of PTG.
Additionally, they note that women are more likely to use emotion-focused cognitive strategies, leading to better management and balance of emotions.
Moving Forward Through Acceptance Rather Than Avoidance
Pereira et al. summarize their conclusions, reporting that regardless of the cause of death or degree of kinship, PFC and EFC prove to be essential for the experience of PTG as opposed to avoidant coping.
They note that their findings may be explained by the reality that problem-focused coping involves taking an active role in resolving the problem, and emotion-focused coping involves regulating the emotions related to the event.
These two strategies are more adaptative in that they involve the processing of the traumatic event, strengthening PTG.
Avoidant coping, in contrast, involves suppressing or avoiding event-related emotions, which hinders emotional processing and stalls the experience of PTG.
Recovering from personal loss by moving emotionally from grief to growth requires strength, strategy, and support.
Valuable partners in this process include family, friends, one's faith community, or any other source of social and moral support.
In addition, professional help is available.
*To find a therapist, visit the Psychology Today Therapy Directory.
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Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.