Reframing and Resurrection a phenomenological-existential look at maternal grief

Abstract

Mourning in contemporary times carries a shameful, pathological, and fearful stigma. Surrounded by expectations to overcome, hide, pass by, and forget, the mourner is faced with the conflict between remaining adapted to a society that values production and their well-being when reliving the memories of their loved one. The conflict grows when seen through the eyes of maternal mourning, where the “duty” to forget the child is the duty to forget being a mother and thus forget her identity, herself. With the aim of understanding the specificities of maternal grief, this article used a phenomenological-existential perspective to open itself to the world and the reports of bereaved mothers. To this end, a literature review was carried out using books, articles, and official reports with pertinent data, mostly collected from the following databases: Scielo, Google Schoolar and LILACS. Resignification proved to be an essential tool for the mental health of grieving mothers, allowing them to relieve their existence and their relationship with their child. Regarding the psychologist’s professional practice, having a critical look at the ways in which mothers are denied their grief in all social spheres, from family to personal, is fundamental to understanding the movements of resignification and giving light and freedom to the being-mother that projects itself in the face of loss.