UIS hosts ambiguous grief workshop; loss that occurs without closure or understanding

WHAT: The University of Illinois Springfield, Memorial Health Centers and Butler Funeral Homes present “Loss, Trauma, and Resilience: The Myth of Closure with Ambiguous Loss” workshop featuring internationally known marriage and family therapist, scientist-practitioner and author Pauline Boss, Ph.D.

WHEN: Friday, October 2, 2015 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

WHERE: UIS Brookens Auditorium, located on the lower level of Brookens Library

DETAILS: Ambiguous loss is loss that leaves a person searching for answers. It can complicate and delay the natural process of grieving and often results in unresolved grief.

Pauline Boss, Ph.D., the principal theorist in ambiguous loss has worked with families of the physically missing, from the Vietnam War, 9/11, the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami and more recently with the Malaysian Airline Flight 370. Her work on the psychologically missing is best represented in her latest book, Loving Someone Who Has Dementia.

Boss will teach about the two types of ambiguous loss and share her six therapeutic guidelines for treatment when loss is complicated by ambiguity.

Pauline Boss is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, a fellow in the American Psychological Association and the American Associate of Marriage and Family Therapy and a family therapist and consultant in private practice.

Cost for the workshop is $100, or $125 after September 18, 2015. Continuing education units and contact hours will be provided. Register online at www.uis.edu/humanservices/.

For more information contact Carolyn Peck, UIS associate professor and chair of Human Services at 217/206-7577 or cpeck2@uis.edu.