| Summary: | Dr. Robert A. Neimeyer continues therapy with a woman in her 40's whose father has recently died. She is having problems with depression, anxiety, and feeling overwhelmed by her grief. When Dr. Neimeyer asks her what she would like to talk about and sort through, the client directs the sessions toward her difficulty dealing with recent losses in her life, (friend died a few months ago and sister's fiancée died a year ago), and her flat and blank feeling when she is not depressed. Dr. Neimeyer checks with her to see if her situation has changed over the past week, and it is learned that the tightness in her chest abated a bit for a few days. She relates that her husband is under stress since the loss, as he is more responsible for the family in general now and feels he has no one to help him out, which puts strain on their relationship. Neither one is as playful or loving with each other, and daily stresses wear at them more. Dr. Neimeyer and she discuss the role her father played in her and her husband's life and the loss they both feel, since her father was a father figure to her husband as well, and that some of the support he offered them will need to come from alternate sources since he is no longer alive. She discusses some camaraderie with her friends who have also lost their parents, and that reaching out to them has helped her a bit. Dr. Neimeyer invites the client to bring her husband to the sessions if they would both find that helpful.
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