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Ambiguous Grief and Loss in Narcissistic and Emotionally Abusive Relationships

CE Hours 3

About this course

This training is designed to help clinicians to recognize, understand, and support clients through processing the complex grief and ambiguous losses they may encounter in a narcissistic or emotionally abusive relationship. Clinicians will learn how healing from narcissistic abuse introduces changes in the relationship, which may lead to ambiguous grief and loss such as estrangement. Attendees will also learn what makes grief and loss in abusive relationships complex, including grieving a relationship that, while abusive and harmful, also included familial/romantic love. Attendees will learn to understand grief and loss as it occurs on multiple levels and directions, including grief for events of the past, present, and future. Finally, this training will help clinicians understand the importance of honoring this complex grief as a necessary part of healing.

Learning Objectives

  • Differentiate ambiguous loss from other losses and identify relevant clinical implications.
  • Explain how internalized guilt and shame instilled by narcissistic family of origin complicate grief, particularly when a narcissistic loved one dies and clients are unable to achieve resolution.
  • Implement support for clients in exploring all dimensions of grief work, including what did and did not happen.

Learning Levels

  • Intermediate to advanced

Target Audience

This self-paced course is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, MFT's and Addiction Professionals.

Course Instructor(s)

  • Amy Marlow-MaCoy, LPC

    Amy Marlow-MaCoy, MEd, LPC is the author of The Clinician’s Guide to Treating Adult Children of Narcissists: Pulling Back the Curtain on Manipulation, Gaslighting, and Emotional Abuse in Narcissistic Families (2023). She is also the author of the Amazon best-selling book The Gaslighting Recovery Workbook: Healing from Emotional Abuse (Callisto Media, 2020). Amy is an internationally known expert on gaslighting and narcissistic abuse, providing training and continuing education credits for clinicians as well as consultation and mentoring for clinicians wishing to deepen and grow their strengths in working with survivors of narcissistic abuse. Amy runs a private practice treating complex and developmental trauma in adults raised in narcissistic, emotionally immature, and toxic families of origin. Amy has advanced training in multiple trauma treatment models, including IFS, EMDR, and brainspotting.

Disclosure

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity ― including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests). All relevant conflicts of interest have been mitigated prior to the commencement of the activity. The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity’s planners, faculty, and the reviewer: PLANNERS AND REVIEWER The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships. FACULTY The faculty of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

References

  • Agllias, K. (2018). Missing family: the adult child’s experience of parental estrangement. Journal of Social Work Practice, 32(1), 59-72.
  • Blake, L., Bland, B., & Imrie, S. (2020). The Counseling Experiences of Individuals Who Are Estranged From a Family Member. Family Relations, 69(4), 820-831.
  • Donaldson-Pressman, S. and Pressman, R. (1994). The Narcissistic Family: Diagnosis and Treatment. Jossey-Bass.
  • Holland, J. M., Plant, C. P., Klingspon, K. L., & Neimeyer, R. A. (2020). Bereavement-related regrets and unfinished business with the deceased. Death studies, 44(1), 42-47.
  • McBride, K. (2008). Will I Ever be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers. Atria Paperback.
  • Thomas, S. (2016). Healing from Hidden Abuse: A Journey Through the Stages of Recovery from Psychological Abuse. MAST Publishing House.
  • Kosmisky, P., and Jordan, J. (2016). Attachment-Informed Grief Therapy. New York: Routledge.
  • Cloitre, M., Cohen, L., and Koenan, K. (2020). Treating Survivors of Childhood Abuse: Psychotherapy for the Interrupted Life. 2nd Ed. London: Guilford Press.
  • Lin, Y., Servaty-Seib, H., & Peterson, J. (2021). Child Sexual Abuse Survivors’ Grief Experiences After the Death of the Abuser. OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 83(4), 777-801.