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Julia's garden: the experience of a mother during mourning

Nowadays, the death of a newborn child is an unusual fact which is usually considered as something against nature's order. Due to the meaning that it has, it may worsen the development of the mourning process and influence the future of the mother and her family. Taking these considerations into account, this study aimed to understand what a mother experiences during the mourning process for the loss of her newborn child. To this end, short individual psychotherapy sessions of psychoanalytic orientation were realized. The content analysis of these sessions resulted in this case study. The results indicate that the expression of mourning through rituals and psychotherapy acted as a facilitator to the development of a healthy mourning.

neonatal death; attitude to death; life changes events; mourning


Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de Brasília Instituto de Psicologia, Universidade de Brasília, 70910-900 - Brasília - DF - Brazil, Tel./Fax: (061) 274-6455 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
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