Post-Bereavement Growth: Conceptual Model, Theoretical Foundations, and Clinical Implications of Meaning Reconstruction in Grief

Literature on loss and grief frequently focuses on the problems associated with the grieving process. However, a growing body of research indicates that positive changes and meaning reconstruction processes can also occur during the grieving process. This developmental phenomenon, termed post-bereavement growth, is defined as a multidimensional construct influencing life after loss. Beyond merely identifying and defining post-bereavement growth, providing a comprehensive explanation regarding its internal dynamics, theoretical background, and measurement is critical for deriving practical clinical implications. Critically, there is a fundamental need to conceptualize PBG as a meaning-making process embedded in the relational and narrative dynamics of grief, rather than treating it as a subset of general trauma. It is argued that establishing the conceptual independence of PBG from post-traumatic growth is essential to understanding this phenomenon. Consequently, this study aims to propose an integrated conceptual model and provide a systematic explication of the theoretical and practical foundations of growth following loss.