Writing through grief: Using autoethnography to help process grief after the death of a loved one

Writing through grief: Using autoethnography to help process grief after the death of a loved one

While reliving traumatic events may initially feel agonizing, writing down our worst experiences can also offer a way to cope with some of life’s horrors. The following narrative presents and describes how one grieving mother harnessed autoethnography to process her profound grief. The researcher dr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Angela Matthews
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2019-11-01
Series:Methodological Innovations
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/2059799119889569
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spelling doaj-14b6543fec174a58955b7fb8e398509f2020-11-25T04:01:31ZengSAGE PublishingMethodological Innovations2059-79912019-11-011210.1177/2059799119889569Writing through grief: Using autoethnography to help process grief after the death of a loved oneAngela MatthewsWhile reliving traumatic events may initially feel agonizing, writing down our worst experiences can also offer a way to cope with some of life’s horrors. The following narrative presents and describes how one grieving mother harnessed autoethnography to process her profound grief. The researcher draws on personal experience losing her son, chronicling her thoughts and feelings in grief journals, and eventually compiling autoethnographic field notes and reflections. This article helps support the argument that weaving personal experiences with academic research can reveal an understanding of complex, painful issues, such as death, grief, and traumatic loss. The author recommends similar strategies for others examining difficult topics, as this method reveals insights about difficult experiences without infringing on the pain of other subjects.https://doi.org/10.1177/2059799119889569
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Angela Matthews
spellingShingle Angela Matthews
Writing through grief: Using autoethnography to help process grief after the death of a loved one
Methodological Innovations
author_facet Angela Matthews
author_sort Angela Matthews
title Writing through grief: Using autoethnography to help process grief after the death of a loved one
title_short Writing through grief: Using autoethnography to help process grief after the death of a loved one
title_full Writing through grief: Using autoethnography to help process grief after the death of a loved one
title_fullStr Writing through grief: Using autoethnography to help process grief after the death of a loved one
title_full_unstemmed Writing through grief: Using autoethnography to help process grief after the death of a loved one
title_sort writing through grief: using autoethnography to help process grief after the death of a loved one
publisher SAGE Publishing
series Methodological Innovations
issn 2059-7991
publishDate 2019-11-01
description While reliving traumatic events may initially feel agonizing, writing down our worst experiences can also offer a way to cope with some of life’s horrors. The following narrative presents and describes how one grieving mother harnessed autoethnography to process her profound grief. The researcher draws on personal experience losing her son, chronicling her thoughts and feelings in grief journals, and eventually compiling autoethnographic field notes and reflections. This article helps support the argument that weaving personal experiences with academic research can reveal an understanding of complex, painful issues, such as death, grief, and traumatic loss. The author recommends similar strategies for others examining difficult topics, as this method reveals insights about difficult experiences without infringing on the pain of other subjects.
url https://doi.org/10.1177/2059799119889569
work_keys_str_mv AT angelamatthews writingthroughgriefusingautoethnographytohelpprocessgriefafterthedeathofalovedone
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