The Blending of Boss's Concept of Ambiguous Loss and Olshansky's Concept of Chronic Sorrow: A Case Study of a Family With a Child Who Has Significant Disabilities

Abstract

PERSPECTIVESPERSPECTIVES is a special feature included in this issue of the Journal of Creativity in Mental Health that provides mental health professionals with an opportunity to discuss their positions on a variety of creativity-related topics.In this issue, authors share two different perspectives on the deeply emotional topic of parenting a child with disabilities. Amy Patrick-Ott and Linda Ladd discuss Boss's concept of ambiguous loss and Olshansky's concept of chronic sorrow and relate those concepts to one mother's story. Margaret Costantino applies Schlossberg's model of transition and Herman's stages of trauma and recovery to her own heroic story of parenting. Both perspectives offer unique insights into the experiences of parenting children with disabilities.Finally, Sunhee Kim, art therapist, shares her perspective on the personcentered approach to creative arts therapy. She tells a moving story of healing experienced by one of her Korean-American clients.When the diagnosis of a physical disability or cognitive impairment is given, the parents begin to realize that their lives will never be the same from that day forward. Whether the parent knows it or not, they have entered a period of chronic sorrow. This article examines the life trajectory for a mother of a child with several disabilities and how the concepts of chronic sorrow and ambiguous loss help explain her experience.

Pozytywne zmiany w percepcji matek dzieci z niepełnosprawnością - struktura i uwarunkowania

“…Rodzice dokonuj¹ przeformu³owania przekonañ do-tycz¹cych siebie (w tym jako rodziców) oraz innych ludzi; zaznacza siê to równie¿ w odniesieniu do przekonañ na temat istoty niepe³nosprawnooeci jako ogólnoludzkiego zjawiska [Green 2007;Park, Chung 2015]. Postrzeganie niepe³nosprawnooeci w kategoriach wielowymiarowych pozwala im lepiej rozumieae potrzeby dziecka, oewiadomie na nie odpowiadaae oraz oceniaae je w kontekoecie jego indywidualnych mo¿liwooeci [Patric-Ott, Ladd 2010;Lee, Park, Recchia 2015]. W procesie transformacji rodziców zaznacza siê d¹¿enie do nadawania sensu w³asnym dooewiadczeniom ¿ycia z niepe³nosprawnooeci¹ [Scorgie, Wilgosh, Sobsey 2004;Pryce, Tweed, Hilton, Priest 2015;Takataya, Yamazaki, Mizuno 2016].…”

Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Asian American Families of Children With Developmental Disabilities

“…Cognitive restructuring was used to help parents decrease negative feelings and depressive thoughts (Anclair & Hiltunen, 2014;Gammon & Rose, 1991;Greaves, 1997;Nixon & Singer, 1993;Wong & Poon, 2010;Wong, Poon, & Kwok, 2011). By using acceptance and commitment therapy, parents were allowed to grieve on their own pace (Anclair & Hiltunen, 2014), helping them adapt to the loss of their own dreams and hopes, and seek understanding to accept changes in their life as well as their child's life (Patrick-Ott & Ladd, 2010). A problem-solving approach was also introduced to deviate parents from problems to solutions, reducing stress and increasing self-efficacy (Anclair & Hiltunen, 2014;Gammon & Rose, 1991;Kirkham, 1993;Schultz et al, 1993).…”

“…Parents of children with disabilities typically face more stress than parents of children without a disability, and they may also experience grief and loss, guilt and self-blame, social isolation, financial pressure, and mental health problems (Christopher, 2001; Gallagher & Whiteley, 2012; Patrick-Ott & Ladd, 2010; Pelchat, Bisson, Ricard, Perreault, & Bouchard, 1999; Power & Orto, 2004; Woodman & Hauser-Cram, 2013).…”

Grief Experiences in Family Caregivers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

“…Other authors have adapted the concept of “ambiguous loss” in order to include a fundamental characteristic of this type of circumstance, in which the child, although physically present, appears to be emotionally absent or distant [23]. In this context, Olshansky [26] defines the concept of chronic sorrow as a “profound sadness,” referring to the sadness felt by the parents of children with mental disabilities [28]. Boss [23], in turn, describes ambiguous loss as an “incomplete and uncertain loss” which occurs in two different ways: the family member may be physically present and psychologically absent, or physically absent and psychologically present.…”

“…There are few recent studies exploring grieving reactions of parents of children with ASD [28,30,31,32] that have used grounded theory to analyse parents’ feelings of sorrow and loss, a relevant issue given the considerable emotional adjustment that these parents have to undergo [6]. These feelings could be related to receiving the diagnosis, hopes for the child’s development, how they perceive positive aspects of the child’s education [33], and different coping styles [34,35].…”