Trauer ist nicht nur Trauer, und Trauma ist nicht nur Trauma – zum Umgang mit ‚gemischten Gefühlen‘: Personzentrierte Begleitung von Menschen nach Verlusten

Abstract

Grief is not just grief, and trauma is not just trauma — on coping with ‘mixed feelings’. Even in normal grieving, symptoms may occasionally occur that are perceived as extremely burdensome. However, this is often a short-lived phenomenon. Thus, grief and trauma, while not inevitably linked, do intersect to a considerable extent. This intersection often concerns the concurrence of several – even contradictory – feelings. Psychotherapy, however, deals primarily with individual emotions. The phenomenon of grief is also fairly narrowly defined. This article therefore focuses on the following questions: What does it mean for us if we are dealing with mixed emotions? What conclusions can be drawn from this for a professional approach when supporting people with and processing experiences of loss? And how does the person-centered approach support us in this?