In this interview forĀ Thrive Global, psychoanalyst Robert Stolorow explains why we should not seek to heal or fix the grief we experience from trauma and loss, but rather lean into the pain. He also critiques the pathologization of grief as well as the notion that there areĀ stages of grief.
“…I don’t use a term like āhealing,ā because when a wound heals it goes away.
Although it’s kind of abstract, the term that I like to use isĀ integration. It’s seamlessly woven into the fabric of who you are. Having had that terrible loss years ago, and I’ve had another one since then, being bereaved is part of my identity. It’s part of who I am. I think I can be very helpful to people because of itāI don’t have to flee from it, I don’t have to avoid it, I don’t have to evade it.”
