Systemic Grief: The Consequence of Living with Unacknowledged Non-death Loss

Abstract

This capstone explores the concept of a type of non-death related loss called systemic grief, defined as grief that results from marginalization experienced over a lifetime. It is posited that in groups that experience marginalization, this grief may be misdiagnosed as anxiety and depression. The current paper provides a framework the therapeutic community can begin to explore to combat this, offering a combination of group therapy, activism and healing. For therapists, who find themselves in roles of privilege and power, a thorough understanding of systemic grief, as well as the ability to recognize its impact on their clients becomes critical to stopping the cycle of oppression.