Dr. Donna Schuurman is back - this time talking about the dangers of pathologizing grief. While the term "complicated grief" has been used in various grief settings for years, it wasn't until March of 2022 that Prolonged Grief Disorder made it into the DSM-5-TR - the Diagnostical & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - as an official diagnosis. This conversation explores the concerns Donna and others in the field share about the move to pathologize grief.
We discuss:
What Donna’s learned about grief working in the field for over 30 years
How that work experience shapes her personal grief
Why she is so passionate about this topic
How diagnoses are social constructs - and who often gets left out of the studies behind these constructs
The dangers of pathologizing grief as a mental disorder
The (short list) of positives of Prolonged Grief Disorder being available as a diagnosis
What Donna is optimistic about in the field of bereavement
Register for Donna’s upcoming webinar: Flawed Foundations, Deconstructing Three Contemporary Grief Constructs Thursday, February 8, 2024.
Donna L. Schuurman, EdD, FT, is the Senior Director of Advocacy & Education at Dougy Center. Dr. Schuurman was the Executive Director of Dougy Center from 1991–2015. Dr. Schuurman is an internationally recognized authority on grief and bereaved children, teens, and families, and the author of Never the Same: Coming to Terms with the Death of a Parent (St. Martin’s Press, 2003), among other publications.
Ep. 146: Reflection - A Mini-Episode
Ep. 145: Speaking Grief - Lindsey Whissel Fenton
Ep. 144: A Grieving Father Turned To Words - Jayson Greene
Ep. 143: A Full-Time Other Mother - Step-Parenting Grieving Children
Ep. 142: Suffocated Grief & Supporting Black Youth - Dr. Tashel Bordere
Ep. 141: You Can't Give From Empty - Grief Professionals & COVID-19 With Megan Devine
Ep. 140: Supporting Widowed Dads - Dr. Justin Yopp
Ep. 139: Grief & Coronavirus/COVID-19 - Leslie Barber
Encore Ep. 106: Grief & Anxiety - Claire Bidwell Smith, LCPC
Ep. 138: Running Home - Katie Arnold
Ep. 137: Grief & The Foster Care System - A Personal Story
Ep. 136: L.Y.G.H.T. - Supporting Grieving Youth In The Foster Care System
Ep. 135: The Worst News - An Update
Ep. 134: Breath, Movement, Sound - Grief Yoga With Paul Denniston
Ep. 133: Widowed Parenting - Jenny Lisk
Ep. 132: Finding Meaning - David Kessler
Ep. 131: Permission To Grieve - Shelby Forsythia
Encore Ep. 11: Who Am I Now?
Ep. 130: Grief & PTSD - Megan Hillukka
Ep. 98: Under Pressure - Grief & December Holidays
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