Date

10-16-2025

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Chair

M. Diane Pearce

Keywords

suicide, Faith-Based CBT, Phenomenological

Disciplines

Psychology

Abstract

A qualitative approach with a phenomenological research design was used to explore the lived experiences of parents regarding the application of faith-based CBT methods in response to feelings of failure, guilt, and the loss of a child due to suicide. This purpose addressed the problem of the lack of exploration of specific types of guilt, such as failure guilt, and their impact on post-traumatic stress symptoms among parents who have experienced the suicide of an adolescent. Fifteen parents who have experienced the loss of a child to suicide participated in semi-structured interview questions through a Zoom conference call platform. The data collected from these interviews were audio recorded and transcribed to extract themes using Clarke and Brauns's thematic analysis approach. These themes that addressed the research questions included guilt, which captured the pervasive sense of responsibility many parents felt after their child’s death, grief and acceptance, addressed the complex emotional landscape of parental bereavement. the role of faith, explored how Christian beliefs and spiritual practices shaped the grieving process, the role of therapy, and the role of community and social support. The study’s limitation involved the small sample size and specific nature of the participant group, and the researcher recommended future research focusing on the experiences of parents from a broader range of religious and cultural backgrounds and comparing the effectiveness of faith-based cognitive behavioral therapy with other therapeutic approaches.

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