Caregivers can gain insight into guilt and grief and the additional ambiguity that the COVID-19 pandemic presents during a virtual event presented by Duet: Partners In Health & Aging.

Guilt, Grief and Guideposts: A Conversation with Dr. Pauline Boss and Kathy Ritchie will take place from 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 27, on Zoom. The event is free for family caregivers and costs $15 for professional caregivers.

Pauline Boss, a family therapist, pioneer theorist in ambiguous loss and author of “Loving Someone Who Has Dementia: How to Find Hope While Coping with Stress and Grief,” will talk about her personal and professional caregiving experiences during the pandemic. Boss, who cared for her late husband, will talk about guilt and grief, as well as how the pandemic has caused loved ones to die alone and their caregivers to grieve by themselves without saying “goodbye,” holding funerals or participating in other traditional rituals for comfort and support.

She will explain why caregivers commonly feel guilt as a normal grieving process and provide tips for resilience and moving forward despite the ambiguous loss when someone is still alive but the person they were has disappeared.

Ritchie, a local journalist who has reported extensively on many aspects of caregiving, will share her experience taking care of her late mother. An editor of “Next Avenue,” a digital publication focusing on people ages 50 and older, Ritchie worked as a broadcast reporter for many years.

To register for the symposium, visit https://duetaz.org/symposium.

 

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