Reflections on personal narratives of grief: An autoethnographic account

Langford, Andy (2025). Reflections on personal narratives of grief: An autoethnographic account. In: Jones, Kerry and Robb, Martin eds. Men and Loss: New Perspectives on Bereavement, Grief and Masculinity. London: Routledge, pp. 78–89.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003333999-7

Abstract

This chapter is a personal account of the author’s experiences of grief resulting from the death of his stepfather during one of the lockdown periods at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also reflects on several other bereavements and how they relate to each other. Positioning himself as both a grieving man and a counsellor, having worked with grieving people for over 20 years, the author focuses on three of the most robustly researched grief models – tasks of mourning, the dual process model and meaning-making. These insights are interwoven with the author’s personal experiences of the death of his stepfather, utilising each of the grief models to shed light on an aspect of his grief journey.