About this course

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

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Amy Marlow-MaCoy, LPC

  Author, Trainer and Therapist

  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

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.