TPC-Journal-V5-Issue4

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 4 454 coping, stigma, and social support enhancement programs and interventions to improve the bereavement process for military spouses. When survivors can identify and address their needs, the bereavement process following a suicide can begin (Christensen & Yaffe, 2012). Limitations First, the majority of the sample (54.1%) were non-Hispanic White, or Euro-American. Second, there is limited representation across military branches. Third, the study collected data from a self-administered electronic survey. Fourth, although the social support measure (i.e., MSPSS) has good reliability and measures social support as a general feeling of belonging to a social network that one can turn to for advice and assistance in times of need (Uchino, 2006), it does not delineate various types of social support. Finally, most of the sample consisted of women whose spouses had completed suicide while on active duty. Active duty members typically live on base and are well connected to the military community. When the military spouse dies, these supports are often no longer available, and the stigma of a suicide could strongly affect these women. Recommendations for Future Studies There are several practice implications from this study. The statistically significant correlations between bereavement and four other variables (primary appraisal, secondary appraisal, coping skills and stigma), as well as the significance of the LCMS construct of primary appraisal within Model 6, indicate that LCMS holds promise for understanding symptoms of bereavement in females following the suicide of a military spouse. Primary appraisal, the most significant variable within this study, could be highlighted within bereavement research on women whose military spouses have completed suicide. When conceptualizing the responses of these women, counselors and clinicians could use LCMS, examining the three components of primary appraisal (goal relevance, goal congruence and ego involvement) and exploring the ways these components present during the client’s bereavement process. The approach would focus on the role of maladaptive cognitions during times of stress (Sudak, 2009). The reluctance of the military community to seek mental health support contributes to an inability to move through the bereavement process in a healthy way. Within the military community, it can be quite difficult to deal with the ambiguity of bereavement that is typically associated with emotional vulnerability (Lamorie, 2011). However, the current study suggests that four constructs—primary appraisal, secondary appraisal, coping and stigma—are significant when addressing the issues of bereavement in females who have lost a military spouse to suicide. Using LCMS to address cognitions, counselors might be able to assist a population whose members have been reluctant to seek mental health services in the past. Because the components of LCMS are correlated with bereavement, clinicians could use LCMS and cognitive stress research, which together seem to be a promising direction, when assisting women who have lost a military spouse to suicide. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure The author reported no conflict of interest or funding contributions for the development of this manuscript. References Agerbo, E. (2005). Midlife suicide risk, partner’s psychiatric illness, spouse and child bereavement by suicide