ABSTRACT
This chapter explores one of the most common and deeply distressing experiences that individuals encounter: the loss of love. When one loses an intimate partner through separation or divorce, layers of both tangible and intangible loss can occur. Since the response to loss is determined by the attachment bond that is formed between the partners and not the legal definition of the relationship, it is important to recognize the presence of profound grief when any intimate relationship ends. This idea is in stark contrast with the continuing bonds theory of bereavement that describes the ongoing relationship between individuals that may continue even after death and is often summed up in the phrase “death may end a life, but not a relationship.” The fact that both individuals continue to live, and may have ongoing contact, often creates a difficult scenario for adaptation that can be classified as ambiguous loss. Complicating these losses is the significant changes that have occurred in the social structure of Western industrialized societies, and this has had a profound impact upon how intimate relationships are viewed. This chapter identifies clinical implications for supporting individuals who experience loss where something has indeed died, but there is no funeral or wake.
