National Institute on Aging. Research Wortman's research career has focused on how humans deal with adverse life events and their experiences of grief and bereavement when losing a loved one. Wortman emphasized the need to "expand our notions of what is a normal reaction to loss." In collaboration with Roxane Cohen Silver, Wortman wrote critical papers on the myths of coping with loss. Their research findings ran counter to the view that mentally healthy people must experience distress after the loss of a loved one. It is common for friends or family members to believe that an individual who does not undergo distress is a cold and unloving person, and therapists may claim that the individual who is not experiencing distress is in denial of their circumstances. However, the longitudinal research of Wortman and her collaborators clearly showed that people have different trajectories and varied ways of grieving. In one line of her research, Wortman focused on cancer patients, their physicians, and caregivers, and how interpersonal relationships and social supports helped people cope with terminal illness. Counter to the Wortman–Brehm model and its emphasis on hopelessness, Wortman found that people often can find meaning in tragic events and recover from trauma and grief. Wortman's work has sparked interest on how to create effective interventions for people impacted by crisis. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wortman created a list of resources to help people coping with the deaths of their loved ones. Books Carr, D. S., Nesse, R. M., & Wortman, C. B. (Eds.). (2005). Spousal bereavement in late life. Springer Publishing Company. Jones, E. E., & Wortman, C. B. (1973). Ingratiation: An attributional approach. Morristown, N.J: General Learning Press. Pearlman, L. A., Wortman, C. B., Feuer, C. A., Farber, C. H., & Rando, T. A. (2014). Treating traumatic bereavement: A practitioner's guide. Guilford Publications. Wortman, C. B., Loftus, E. F., & Marshall, M. E. (1981). Psychology. Alfred and Knopf. References External links Faculty Homepage American women psychologists Social psychologists Duke University alumni Northwestern University faculty Stony Brook University faculty Living people 1947 births American women academics 21st-century American women American clinical psychologists