Chronic Sorrow ─ A Living Loss

Chronic Sorrow explores natural grief reactions to losses that are not final and continue to be present in the life of the griever. This second edition updates terminology, pertinent research, and the roles the concept of chronic sorrow has come to play in the nursing, medical, social work, pastoral, and community counseling professions, among others. This text also extends the concept’s usefulness to other ongoing losses that are bases for non-ending grief responses, such as serious disabilities. Benefits and social supports are explored in depth, giving readers a practical guide for accessing available resources. Chapters also give guidance for professionals to assist individuals and families who struggle with living with irremovable loss, helping them plan for a future in which customary caregivers can no longer carry the load.

Susan Roos, PhD, is a psychotherapist who maintains a private practice with an emphasis on grief and loss. She is a past president of the Dallas Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology and currently serves on the arts committee. She is also a consultant to Trauma Support Services of North Texas and a Fellow in Thanatology of the Association for Death Education and Counseling.