Positive Psychotherapy for bereaved parents or parents. ‘On the way to “being parents of angels”’

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present the use of Positive Psychotherapy in group work with parents who have lost a child due to an oncohematological disease, to help with the more recent adaptation and development of a new mental homeostasis for the entire family environment. The article will examine how the principles and approaches of Positive Psychotherapy are applied to guide parents and family who have experienced the loss of a child through the stages of grief and mourning reactions. The three main principles of Positive Psychotherapy were used: The principle of hope - "how to rediscover the meaning, to look at my suffering from another angle in my difficult current situation"; The principle of balance, as "where I direct my energy, how I cope" and the principle of consultation, as "help for self-help" in the five-step model of work in Positive Psychotherapy, created by Nossrat Peseschkian.