When faced with a pandemic and losses that remains ambiguous, our resilience is all that we have to help us cope. With monumental losses, personally, and professionally, we need to regain our strength and stability. The goal is not finding closure on this terrible time, but rather, finding some meaning in what we just experienced. Seeking closure only delays the resolution of loss for individuals as well as for larger societal systems of racism and social disparities. Valuing closure blocks not only our self-understanding but also the ability to empathize with the suffering of others and thus the momentum to make needed changes. If we believe people should just get over their loss and grief, then we have shut the door on our own ability to feel. Personally, and professionally, how do we find the flexibility to shift gears and change in the face of such ambiguity and loss? Dr. Boss offers six nonlinear guidelines that can help rebuild resilience to live with the stress of ambiguity and uncertainty. They are based on the concepts of meaning, mastery, identity, ambivalence, attachment, and new hope (Boss, 2000, 2006, 2020). Dr. Boss also discusses the downside of resilience—it’s assumption of adaptation instead of systemic change. Questions and comments will be welcomed.
Learning Objectives:1. Listening personally and professionally
2. Understanding the stress of loss, clear or ambiguous, and its effects
3. Increasing resilience by increasing tolerance for ambiguity
4. Accepting the paradox of absence and presence: both/and thinking.
5. Recognizing normal grief in abnormal times
6. Applying the six guidelines for resilience to live with loss and grief
The evaluation/CE request form for this program can be found
HERE.
