DR. PAULINE BOSS
Finding Hope For Your Future
This 10-week discussion series features videos based on the groundbreaking book, Loving Someone Who Has Dementia: How to Find Hope While Coping with Stress and Grief by Dr. Pauline Boss, Ph.D., a leading expert on caregiver grief. Built on solid research and years of practical experience, it offers real help in dealing with the challenges, losses, and rewards of being a family caregiver of someone who is, or is becoming, psychologically absent. In her book, Dr. Boss uses the term “ambiguous loss” to describe the complex grief experience of caring for someone who is physically present, yet psychologically absent.
To manage this experience, she encourages caregivers to learn and practice “both/and” thinking. She encourages them to practice carrying contradicting thoughts, simultaneously, to reconcile that a loved one is both here, and not here. She encourages caregivers to make peace that their loved one is both absent and present, and find meaning in the good enough relationship that they have. These are unfamiliar concepts that can best be learned in community. Once mastered, they can be transformative to your health and wellbeing.
In partnership with Dr. Boss, the Meaning & Hope Institute offers its signature video discussion series, featuring Dr. Boss, specifically for family caregivers experiencing ambiguous loss. The series is designed to help you find real help and hope as you care for someone who has become ambiguously lost.
