Many non-death losses are either ongoing in nature, leading to significant anxiety and exhaustion, or they are ambiguous in their orientation, making it difficult to identify what has been lost and how to support people in these unique loss experiences.

Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) is especially useful for these types of loss experiences, especially in providing a sustainable foundation of support when these loss experiences (and the grief that accompanies them) have a protracted course. CFT is also very helpful in addressing grief that is accompanied by shame, disenfranchisement, and exhaustion, which is a common presence in grief that occurs as a result of non-death loss experiences.

This workshop will identify and describe specific types of non-death loss and the unique grief that accompanies them. The attention will then turn to the application of the principles of CFT to suggest sustainable ways to support individuals with these types of losses.

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First Session: Non-Death Loss and Grief

· Definitions and descriptions of different types of non-death losses

· Unique features of the grief that accompanies non-death losses

· Social context of non-death loss and grief

· The assumptive world and grief

· How attachment mediates grief

· Areas of difficulty in non-death losses

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Second session: Application of CFT to Non-Death Loss and Grief

· Compassionate Mind Training and sustainability

· Practice of presence

· Reorienting outcome expectations

· Challenges in grief therapy practice that can be readily addressed with CFT

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Key Learning Objectives

1. Define nonfinite loss, ambiguous loss, tangible and intangible loss, chronic sorrow, and disenfranchised grief.

2. Identify unique features of non-death loss and grief

3. Explore specific compassion-based practices that can be helpful to clients experiencing grief after non-death losses.

4. Describe how a compassionate stance can enhance sustainability in situations where grief is chronic, intense, and/or exceptionally difficult.

5. Recognize the impact of the social context on loss and grief, as well as on the application of CFT to specific scenarios of non-death loss and grief.

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