Ambiguous Loss with guest Amy Geller, LCSW

Ambiguous loss is a fascinating topic and this week we dive in to what it means. Guest Amy Geller, LCSW helps us identify what ambiguous loss means, how to identify it in our own life, and what we can do to cope through it. Amy shares her wealth of knowledge and lived experience both as an adoptee and adoptee clinician. Amy shares how she is using ambiguous loss theory to conceptualize her work when working with adoptees and their families. A bit about our guest: Amy Geller is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and family therapist in Bergen County, New Jersey. Amy has a general practice where she has provided psychotherapy to individuals, couples, and families since 2011. Prior to that, Amy has extensive experience providing social work services in inpatient and community health settings, of which, hospice care was a particular passion. Amy’s area of clinical interest and expertise has evolved towards working with all members of the adoptee kinship network (adoptees, adoptive families, and birth parents). Initially interested in working with adolescents, it became evident to Amy that a high degree of her adolescent clients were adoptees and that, despite their diverse backgrounds, there were similarities in their experiences and behaviors. An adoptee herself, Amy became particularly curious about understanding and meeting the needs of adoptees and their families as well as educating the mental health and school communities on the unique needs of this population.  In addition to her private practice, Amy is the Clinical Director of the New Jersey chapter of A Home Within, a non-profit organization that provides open ended, individual psychotherapy, free of charge, to current and former foster youth.  Amy is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Social Work at The Rutgers University School of Social Work where the focus of her scholarship and research is on adoption. As part of her studies, Amy presented a case study outlining strength-based interventions for building attachment between adolescent adoptees and their adoptive mothers. Amy is currently engaged in a qualitative study that examines “The Experience of Adult Adoptees in Psychotherapy”. In addition to her private practice, Amy lectures at Rutgers University School of Social Work and has appeared on several podcasts to speak about adoption related topics.