The path of mourning: stories of grief in conferences of intervention aimed at popular sectors of Caracas

Abstract

Within the framework of the XI Conference on Psychological Well-being: "The path of grief: from affliction to transformation", organized by the Padre Luis Azagra Psychology Unit (UPLA, by its Spanish acronym), we recorded four reflexive groups on the experiences of loss and grief in participants from the communities of La Vega and Antímano, in order to approach ourselves to a community diagnosis. The results were analyzed by means of a thematic analysis. From the analysis, grief is understood as a polysemic and complex phenomenon; as a psychosocial phenomenon that is perceived as an individual experience, and contextualized by harsh circumstances of social exclusion. Grief is experienced as an emptiness and the end of a way of life. To cope with multiple losses, one seeks to "be strong" and hide the feelings of sadness in order to respond to the social and situational demands of the urgency culture in an effective manner. It appears that there are public grievances, and losses that, given the circumstances, are kept hidden.