#16 Dr. Judith McCoyd Discusses Grief and Loss Therapy
10/28/19 • 27 min
Dr. Judith McCoyd is an Associate Professor at Rutgers School of Social Work and co-author of Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan, a book that seeks to educate mental health clinicians on how to address the needs of someone experiencing grief and loss.
Grief and loss experiences can affect a person’s feelings, behaviors, and thoughts. During a lifetime, we all experience multiple losses. Grief and loss therapy can help to offer support through the bereavement or transition process, regardless of whether or not an individual has a formal mental health diagnosis. There are many types of losses and talking to a therapist can allow one to process the meanings of these losses and the changes in identity that they can spur. Loss can include the loss of a job, home, functioning, and even the loss that occurs when there is a transition. One example of loss is when a child goes off to kindergarten or college, which may bring on grief as well as a longing for the past. Indeed, any change can be a form of loss of the way things once were. Cultural beliefs and traditions influence how people express grief. In some cultures, grief may be open and sociable. In other cultures, grief is experienced privately and quietly. Culture generally guides the time period in which family members are expected to grieve. In short, culture, the support of family and friends, and the adaptability to change all influence an individual’s ability to cope with loss. Having a therapist to accompany one through the process of change and reflection can be powerfully beneficial.
Disclaimer: The information shared in this podcast is not a substitute for getting help from a mental health professional.
Dr. Judith McCoyd is an Associate Professor at Rutgers School of Social Work and co-author of Grief and Loss Across the Lifespan, a book that seeks to educate mental health clinicians on how to address the needs of someone experiencing grief and loss.
Grief and loss experiences can affect a person’s feelings, behaviors, and thoughts. During a lifetime, we all experience multiple losses. Grief and loss therapy can help to offer support through the bereavement or transition process, regardless of whether or not an individual has a formal mental health diagnosis. There are many types of losses and talking to a therapist can allow one to process the meanings of these losses and the changes in identity that they can spur. Loss can include the loss of a job, home, functioning, and even the loss that occurs when there is a transition. One example of loss is when a child goes off to kindergarten or college, which may bring on grief as well as a longing for the past. Indeed, any change can be a form of loss of the way things once were. Cultural beliefs and traditions influence how people express grief. In some cultures, grief may be open and sociable. In other cultures, grief is experienced privately and quietly. Culture generally guides the time period in which family members are expected to grieve. In short, culture, the support of family and friends, and the adaptability to change all influence an individual’s ability to cope with loss. Having a therapist to accompany one through the process of change and reflection can be powerfully beneficial.
Disclaimer: The information shared in this podcast is not a substitute for getting help from a mental health professional.
Previous Episode
#15 Dr. Michael Nichols on Family Therapy Concepts and Methods
Dr. Michael Nichols currently serves as a Professor of Psychology at William & Mary and has been a leading teacher and practitioner of Family Therapy for over 40 years. He is the author of many revolutionary books, including Stop Arguing with Your Kids, The Lost Art of Listening, The Essentials of Family Therapy, which is currently in its sixth edition, and Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods, which is currently in its 11th edition.
Family Therapy is a strength-based, outcome-oriented treatment that focuses on the interaction between the individual and his or her family. According to Family Therapy, our behaviors are a function of our relations with others, and Family Therapy examines the interplay among family members, rather than focusing solely on individuals. The role of the family therapist is to discover each member’s underutilized strengths and to help him or her move past negative patterns of communication that interfere with the family’s health and functioning. After observing how your family interacts, the therapist will draw a chart, or map, of your family’s structure. Since there is an overall organization or structure that maintains a family's dysfunctional interactions, this chart helps identify the hierarchy, family subsystems, and boundaries (both rigid and flexible) within the family unit, such as the relationship between parents or between one parent and one particular child. Using this plan, the therapist can also see where changes are needed and what type of interventions will help restructure the family.
Disclaimer: The information shared in this podcast is not a substitute for getting help from a mental health professional.
Next Episode
#17 Dr. Michael Kerr on How Anxiety Affects Family Systems and What to Do About It
Dr. Michael Kerr succeeded Dr. Murray Bowen as Director of the Georgetown Family Center and served in that role until 2010. Dr. Kerr co-authored with Dr. Bowen the seminal book Family Evaluation: An Approach Based on Bowen Theory. Dr. Kerr’s new book, Bowen Theory’s Secrets: Revealing the Hidden Life of Families, was released in February 2019. Dr. Kerr was also the founding editor of Family Systems: A Journal of Natural Systems Thinking in Psychiatry and the Sciences. Dr. Kerr is now the Director of the Bowen Theory Academy in Islesboro, Maine.
Family System Therapy uses systems theory to describe the family as a complex emotional unit where members are intricately and intensely interconnected. FST looks through the lens of system theory where each family member is emotionally and behaviorally connected through complex interactions. In FST, “Families so profoundly affect their members’ thoughts, feelings, and actions that it often seems as if people are living under the same ‘emotional skin.’” Family members react to one another in both behavior and emotions. If there is a change in one person, there will most likely be reciprocal changes in other family members. Family members who “absorb” the anxiety of others are vulnerable to depression, alcoholism, affairs, and physical illnesses.
Family Systems Therapy on Twitter: @thebowencenter
Disclaimer: The information shared in this podcast is not a substitute for getting help from a mental health professional.
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