Admitting to having made a bad choice "is a grief reaction," he said.
As a family goes through a cancer illness, many losses are experienced, and each triggers its own grief reaction.
Grief therapy is used with people who have more serious grief reactions.
Severe grief reactions may carry over into family relations.
The therapist was moderately successful in trying to help this woman experience a normal grief reaction after the loss of her husband.
The whole grief reaction often takes about two years to work through from initial denial to final acceptance.
Further, there is a significant grief reaction to giving up the substance or process of addiction itself.
Teenagers' grief reactions are similar to those of adults but negative feelings may lead to violence and aggression.
These people experience what might be called a normal grief reaction, and the symptoms of it gradually diminish over 6 to 18 months.
"The woman is going through a normal grief reaction," Malik said.