Therapists and sense of self : themes of loss

Abstract

This study constitutes an exploration of the role of the experience of loss in the social processes of meaningmaking - regarding self, other and the world - especially as it applies to therapists. Traditionally a focus on loss has entailed a description of the mourning processes brought about by this inevitable but dreadful event. Here the lens is widened to evolve a description of how the loss experience can contribute to a transformation of a person's sense of her self and of her patterns of relating. This description. rests on a social constructionist understanding of the experience of self. A person's sense(s) of self is seen to evolve within the usual and seemingly predictable patterns of connecting and disconnecting that constitutes the social webs of the discursive communities that people move in. Thus her sense of I is indelibly linked to 'Nho and 'Nhere her Yous are. Indeed, all meaning is proposed to evolve from a template of connection-disconnection patterns. The experience of loss is seen to be able to disrupt these seemingly stable patterns within such a community sufficiently, as to be able to bring about in depth transformation of the meanings evolving from these habits of relating. One nuance of these meanings in transformation, entails a person's sense of her self. Experiences of, and struggles around connection and disconnection are centrally important in the world of therapists. It does not only constitute a basic focus of their 'M)rk, but is also the template in their personal lives that contributes to their O\Ml evolution as therapists. Thus the experience of loss is specifically explored as potentially transformational - on a personal and professional level - in the lives of therapists.