Recognizing Complicated Grief and How to Help Patients Through the Process

When does grief after the death of a loved one transition to complicated grief to the point where the pain doesn't go away? In this podcast, Dr Katherine Shear discusses this important issue.

Dr Shear has worked on the development and implementation of funded research in anxiety disorders, depression, and grief, primarily in the area of psychotherapy studies. She has conducted studies and provided mentorship for research using a wide range of different psychotherapy methods including psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, Rogerian reflective listening treatments for panic disorder, and IPT for depression with panic spectrum features.  

Most recently, Dr Shear has worked in the area of bereavement and grief.  She recently developed a novel composite psychotherapy for the syndrome of complicated grief.  Her work culminated in the publication of the first randomized controlled treatment study for complicated grief in June 2005. In September 2007, Dr Shear received a $2.6 million five-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct the first clinical study to determine the effects of two different models of treatment for complicated grief in older adults. In August 2009, Dr Shear received a $1.8 million 5-year grant for a complicated grief multi-site treatment study examining the relative merits of antidepressant medication with and without complicated grief treatment. 

Katherine Shear, MD, on complicated grief