Non-death Loss: Grieving for the Loss of Familiar Place and for Precious Time and Associated Opportunities

College Student Experiences of Grief and Loss Amid the COVID-19 Global Pandemic

“…Results of this study indicated students experienced various reactions to losses including positive reappraisal, avoidance, and loss of control. Gitterman and Knight (2019) recommended mental health professionals consider and assess ways in which client life circumstances and stressors might contribute to overall feelings of loss and accompanying grief reactions.…”

“…Prior research supports the importance of acknowledging and validating non-death losses as significant causes of grief. Gitterman and Knight (2019) suggested, “we must learn to be more intentional in helping clients identify, manage, and work through non-death loss, that is, help them construct their grief and make meaning of it” (p. 152). Practitioners and educators working with college students should engage in open conversations to acknowledge pandemic losses, normalize accompanying grief, and provide support in coping.…”

“…While much research has explored the effects of death loss on individuals, the discussion of non-death loss is only emerging in current literature ( Gitterman & Knight, 2019 ; Smith & Delgado, 2020 ). Cooley et al (2010) noted reactions to non-death losses often mimic those of death losses.…”

Working With Non‐Death Losses in Counseling: An Overview of Grief Needs and Approaches

“…Non-bereavement grief, therefore, is the process by which one reacts and responds to these non-death losses. As articulated in the literature, non-bereavement grief can share many features of bereavement (Papa et al, 2014), including in areas such as job loss (Brewington et al, 2004;Papa & Maitoza, 2013) or loss of a significant place or period of time (Gitterman & Knight, 2019). A similar feature of these grieving experiences outlined by Papa et al (2014) is the identity reconsolidation brought about by engagement in compensatory activities relative to the loss.…”

Mentoring in crisis does not need to put mentorship in crisis: Realigning expectations

“…8 As a result, people feel powerful mental, emotional, and physical reactions. 8,9 The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in death and a multitude of non-death losses: loss of in-person connections, routine, economic security, freedom, a sense of certainty, and normalcy. The losses felt by individuals, groups, and society as a whole due to the ongoing violence against Black and Brown people, exemplified by the killing of George Floyd, are immense.…”