Holiday Grief with Living Losses

Our recent speaker, Brittney Squillace,  both a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and a Grief Therapist, generously shared a blog from her web site.  While it refers to the holidays, the content and exercise provided is applicable anytime of the year.   Following the article is a video she also shared on the subject.  As we address the rollercoaster of emotions generated by the experiences we are going through, hopefully these resources will provide insight and comfort.  Thank you, Brittney, for these materials and a useful presentation.  Ambiguous Loss was an entirely new concept for me.

We are entering the week of Christmas! Can you believe it?! Typically at this time in the season, I’ve already engaged in a few holiday festivities with dear friends and am gearing up for the family gatherings in the week to come; thinking about the “schedule” and looking forward to all the tasty food, playing silly annual holiday games, and building everlasting memories!

Unfortunately, 2020 has interfered with how we expect to spend/celebrate the holidays in ways, I’m sure, we didn’t think possible. This has created a universal experience that is new for many; the idea of grieving not being able to celebrate the holidays we typically do/would like to and having to make, what feels like, extreme adjustments due to a global pandemic.

This experience falls under the concept of living loss or ambiguous loss.  Click Here to read the full article

Watch the video from Brittney  – Don’t Be fooled By Grief: Understanding the Ripple Effects of Grief