A couple sat across from me, both dressed in dark clothing and speaking quietly. Two years earlier, their young adult daughter had died in a bus accident while studying abroad. “When the police came to our door, everything collapsed,” the mother said. “Since then, I have known no joy. Life has no value anymore.” She could not bear words associated with death or burial and thought about her daughter “24/7.” Her husband began to cry. “She was our angel,” he said. “It still hurts in my soul. But we have three younger children. I have to work. I have to function.” The couple barely spoke. The mother frequently stopped him when he mentioned the loss: “You do not have my pain.” This composite vignette reflects recurring clinical patterns; identifying details have been changed. For more than two decades, I have studied parental responses to a child’s death. Classic life-event research placed bereavement among the experiences requiring the greatest psychological readjustment. Recent reviews show that parental bereavement can disrupt identity, relationships, health, spirituality, social belonging, and …