Ambiguous Loss: The Impact of Absence An investigation of Boss’s Ambiguous Loss Theory and Implications for Wilderness-Based Healing
| dc.contributor.author | Steindorf, Leah L. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-08-22T22:10:35Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-08-22T22:10:35Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021 | |
| dc.description | 64 pages | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | This research paper will explain the experience of Ambiguous Loss, a loss that is constructed by both the absence and presence of an individual, and then introduce an effective and impactful healing modality. This project intends to portray the difficulties surrounding losing someone ambiguously and the necessity to hold two seemingly incompatible realities - absence and presence - at the same time. The steps recognized in the healing of grief from loss and death, which is commonly experienced and understood in our world today, will be used to carefully distinguish how the experience of Ambiguous Loss is uniquely different. From the perspective of the person who is experiencing the loss, this paper will explore and substantiate the emotional complexity and state of inconclusiveness and confusion resulting from Ambiguous Loss. This paper will also present wilderness therapy as a promising modality that may uniquely support a process of acceptance and integration that is well-tailored for Ambiguous Loss. Wilderness therapy, and the impact of the raw natural setting, may be an instrumental modality for helping individuals process the unique grief that arises from Ambiguous Loss due to the expansive and complex nature of both this form of loss and the natural environment. Wilderness therapy may provide individuals a concrete, real-life surmountable challenge that creates a tangible rather than conceptual experience, beautifully countering the disorienting experience of Ambiguous Loss itself. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1794/27503 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | University of Oregon | en_US |
| dc.rights | Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-US | en_US |
| dc.subject | Grief | en_US |
| dc.subject | Loss | en_US |
| dc.subject | Wilderness therapy | en_US |
| dc.title | Ambiguous Loss: The Impact of Absence An investigation of Boss’s Ambiguous Loss Theory and Implications for Wilderness-Based Healing | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis / Dissertation | en_US |