Psychotherapy emerges as top treatment for grief, review finds

A systematic review found that psychotherapy is an effective intervention for easing grief and depression after the death of a loved one, with other approaches, such as expert-facilitated support groups and increased contact with health care providers, showing some benefits as well. Evidence for children and many other interventions, such as art therapy or medication, was scarce or inconclusive. The review is published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Researchers from the Southern California Evidence Review Center at the University of Southern California (USC) and RAND Health analyzed 169 randomized controlled trials to determine which interventions help people cope with bereavement.

The trials evaluated approaches ranging from psychotherapy to self-help interventions. The analysis showed moderate evidence that individual psychotherapy improves symptoms of grief, grief disorder, and depression in adults. Expert-facilitated support groups and enhanced provider contact may offer some benefit, but evidence for many other approaches and important outcomes such as loneliness and adverse health behaviors was insufficient.

Evidence for children and culturally specific interventions was scarce, highlighting the need for further research.

In an accompanying editorial, authors argue that many of the essential elements of the care of bereaved persons remain understudied and underutilized. They note that bereavement care must not be reduced to symptom alleviation alone, nor to pharmacologic intervention, and argue about the importance of physicians seeing themselves as companions in addition to clinicians when helping their patients through grief.

Reference:

Sangeeta Ahluwalia, Julia Bandini, Margaret Maglione, et al. Care of Bereaved Persons: A Systematic Review. Ann Intern Med. [Epub 3 February 2026]. doi:10.7326/ANNALS-24-03679