ABSTRACT
Professionals from a wide variety of disciplines will be involved at many points throughout the course of one's own disabilities or when living with a loved one who is significantly disabled. Professionals will need skills and experience in: trauma amelioration; existential issues; family therapy; affect modulation; crisis and stress management; problem solving; community resources; and referral for psychotropic medications. First professional contacts may in fact be among the most critical in the forever-changed life of the individual or family. There is no substitute for professional maturity and for years of in-depth training and skill in various therapy modalities. Persons with chronic sorrow frequently present for therapy having already developed a negative transference based on prior contacts with professionals. Emotional granularity refers to the ability to make nuanced distinctions between emotions that are similar. It is a relatively easy therapeutic task to encourage the development of awareness and identification of specific or meta-emotions.
