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Trauma and Ambiguous Loss: The Lingering Presence of the Physically Absent

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Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery

Abstract

Ambiguous loss is a traumatic loss; it immobilizes family processes, ruptures relationships, blocks coping and decision making, and freezes the grief process. Because there is no possibility of closure, there is a lingering presence of the loved one who is missing. In this chapter, we focus exclusively on the physical type of ambiguous loss. The missing person is physically absent, but the family has no assurance of his or her whereabouts or fate as dead or alive. To illustrate, we use the example of the earthquake and tsunami in East Japan on March 11, 2011, where tens of thousands of family members were swept away by the rising waters. In the aftermath, ambiguous loss remains as a loss that has no ending. Without clear facts or evidence of death, adults and children suffer with a loss that has no resolution—except perceptually. This requires a new lens. They learn to see life in a new way by balancing the ambiguity with moving forward. Guidelines are presented to help, which involve meaning, mastery, identity, ambivalence, attachment, and hope.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Social Science, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota, 55108, 290 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Avenue, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Prof. Pauline Boss PhD

  2. TELL Counseling, 6-10-11 Minami Aoyama, 107-0062, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Chikako Ishii MS

Authors
  1. Prof. Pauline Boss PhD
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  2. Chikako Ishii MS
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Correspondence to Pauline Boss PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Louisiana State University Dept. Psychology, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

    Katie E. Cherry

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Boss, P., Ishii, C. (2015). Trauma and Ambiguous Loss: The Lingering Presence of the Physically Absent. In: Cherry, K. (eds) Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18866-9_15

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