Ambiguous loss: Contemporary applications and theoretical extensions

Our efforts in family science and family therapy to articulate and understand ambiguous loss began in the 1970s when Pauline Boss, as a graduate student, endeavored to understand "psychologically absent" fathers in intact families (for summary narratives of this work, see Boss, 2000, 2016). Efforts during her early career followed in research targeting family experiences with mismatched psychological and physical presence (or absence)-first with families of veterans who were declared missing-in-action during the Vietnam War (Boss, 1977, 1980) and then with families of veterans living with dementia (Boss et al., 1988; Caron et al., 1999). Following extensive community work with families who lost their loved ones after the September 11th terrorist attacks in New York City (Boss, 2003, 2004), Boss expanded her ambiguous loss framework to inform guidelines in family and group interventions (Boss, 2006). At the same time, she shared contemporary understandings about ambiguous loss-and ways to cope with it-with lay readers through nonacademic texts (e.g., Boss, 2000, 2011). Throughout this time, Boss has (re)confirmed how therapy for losses that are ambiguous must be founded on a family stress theory and/or model-instead of a medical model(s) that presumes definitive solutions are possible (Boss, 1987; Boss et al., 2017).