Ambiguous Loss: Disease, Estrangement and More with Denise Torgerson

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Are you familiar with the term "ambiguous loss"? Just about all of us go through it at some point in our lives, but it's something Barb couldn't quite put a name to until her old friend and recurring guest Denise Torgerson described it to her. 

Ambiguous loss can come about in countless different ways, but most commonly, we feel it following the onset of Alzheimer's/dementia in a close family member or upon becoming estranged from family or friends. That ache we feel when someone leaves our lives without proper closure, or when a person has declined so much that we start to grieve the version of them we once knew? That's ambiguous loss. It happens to everyone, it's very hard to deal with, and surprisingly few people are actually talking about it.

Thankfully, Denise is here to continue the conversation with Barb and help us all get a better understanding of what exactly causes those feelings of ambiguity, as well as what we can do to heal from it. They go over different types of loss, different coping strategies, some important realizations, and most importantly, that these feelings should not be ignored. As Denise says, if you are experiencing ambiguous loss right now, it is definitely worthy of your attention.

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