Grief expert featured during OSU Research Week

Dr. Pauline Boss will present “Ambiguous Loss: Why Closure is a Myth” on Feb. 21, 2014, from noon-1:30 p.m. in the OSU-Tulsa Auditorium. Her presentation is part of Oklahoma State University’s Research Week, which takes place February 17-21.

The Bryan Close Professorship in Adulthood and Aging in the College of Human Sciences is making Boss’ presentation possible. Lunch will be provided by the OSU Center for Health Sciences and the Center for Family Resilience on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“I am absolutely delighted Dr. Pauline Boss will be able to share her expertise during OSU’s Research Week,” Whitney Bailey, Bryan Close Professor, said.

“Her work is internationally known and has reached countless individuals and practitioners in the area of family crisis and complex losses. This presentation will be meaningful to those interested in grief, dementia, traumatic brain injury, or other circumstances where grief is complex and ambiguous.”

Boss is Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota and a family therapist at a private practice. She is the principal theorist in the study of ambiguous loss, a term she coined in the 1970s to define a loss that has no physical evidence of death or certainty that the person will come back or return to the way they use to be. She is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association and American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and a former president of the National Council on Family Relations. Email reservations to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .