Counseling Widowers

Working with widowers can be one of the most challenging parts of a therapist’s career. Despite the need for better research and professional guidance, therapists have often been left alone to confront a group struggling with high rates of suicide, mortality, physical health problems, and depression. Counseling Widowers builds from the latest developments in grief research and men’s studies to bridge the gap between counseling practice and the needs of bereaved men. In these pages, therapists will find tools for adjusting their clinical strategies to work more effectively with these men. Through a more empathic understanding of widowers, therapists can help them build from their strengths as they face the loss of their partner.

Jason M. Troyer, PhD, is an associate professor of psychology at Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee. Dr. Troyer has taught college courses on death and dying and has provided individual and group counseling for bereaved college students and older adults. His research focuses on the grief experiences of widowers.