Ambiguous Loss: When You're Grieving a Person Who's Still Alive

We're three weeks into grief month, and this episode goes somewhere that doesn't get nearly enough airtime — grieving someone who is still alive. Whether you've had to create distance from a relationship for your own well-being, or you're mourning a version of a person who is no longer who they once were, this kind of loss is real, disorienting, and deserves to be named.In this Therapy Is My Cardio segment, Jessica walks through the clinical framework of ambiguous loss and four powerful shifts that actually move the needle — straight from the therapy room.What You'll Learn in This EpisodeWhat ambiguous loss is and why it's one of the hardest kinds of grief to processThe two main forms ambiguous loss takes — and which one you may be living withWhy humans struggle so much with unresolved, "open loop" lossesFour practical reps for working through relational griefWhy your healing does not require the other person's participationHow grief and love can coexist without contradictionComing Up Next WeekWe're closing out grief month with identity grief — grieving a version of yourself that existed before the thing that changed everything. Don't miss it.Clinical Concepts MentionedAmbiguous loss (Pauline Boss)Role grief vs. person griefNarrative disruption in grief processingInternal resolution without external closureGrief and love as co-existing emotional statesConnect With JessicaNewsletter: https://healingismyhobby.comWebsite: https://healingismyhobby.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/healingismyhobby/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@healingismyhobbyClinical Practice: https://jessicacolarcolcsw.comClinical Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicacolarcolcswWant to stay in the know? Subscribe to our newsletter here. Contact Jessica here. Let's connect: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/healingismyhobby/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@healingismyhobby Would you like to learn more about Jessica's clinical practice? Click here.ambiguous loss, grieving someone who is still alive, living loss, relational grief, disenfranchised grief, grief without closure, unresolved grief, open loop grief, emotional estrangement, role grief, narrative disruption in grief, grief and love coexisting, internal healing without apology, Pauline Boss ambiguous loss, relational trauma, emotionally absent parent, estrangement grief, IFS and grief, healing without closure, trauma-informed grief work, how to grieve someone who is still alive, grieving a parent who is emotionally absent, estrangement grief support, how to heal from relationship grief, can you grieve someone you still love, closure without an apology, grieving what you never had, Healing Is My Hobby podcast, Therapy Is My Cardio, Jessica Colarco LCSW, grief series podcast, anxiety and grief podcast, mental health podcast for women, IFS grief therapy podcast