The Benefits of RIM for Moving Through Grief

By Cathleen Elle, LLC, and Eva Alberts, LLC

This study investigated the differential impact of two 6-week interventions for individuals experiencing intense grief following the loss of a loved one in the past two years. Volunteer participants included 9 women, age 35 to 65, who were recruited through social media and assigned to either group RIM (Regenerating Images in Memory) or group coaching. Participants in both groups had similar levels of trauma symptoms and histories of adverse childhood events. The coaching group met weekly for 1 hour and focused on skills such as taking responsibility and conscious action to change their lives during the grieving process. The RIM group also met weekly for 1 hour but focused on emotional processing through the transformation of memories and meaning surrounding the loss. We hypothesized that participants in the RIM group would experience a greater reduction in their sense of living with profound grief. A qualitative analysis of post-intervention comments revealed that while both groups found the intervention helpful, the specific outcomes differed: the coaching group’s perceived outcomes emphasized greater self-acceptance, self-management, and improved communication with others, whereas the RIM group‘s perceived outcomes included experiencing a sense of healing, acceptance of the grieving process, greater reconnection with others, and increased self-awareness.

Read more… The Benefits of RIM for Moving Through Grief… By Cathleen Elle, LLC, and Eva Alberts, LLC