EAP and COVID-19: Grief in the Time of a Pandemic: One Therapist’s Perspective

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated the experience of grief and will have long- lasting consequences. As of May 27, over 100,000 Americans have died from this virus in a period of less than five months. Sadly, there will be many more deaths in the future by the time this article is published. “Normal” grief is difficult enough for the bereaved, but as EA providers and clinicians we need to remind ourselves that grief and loss during a pandemic is more complicated: How do we help employees come to terms with death when the usual coping rituals of grief and loss are no longer available? In my practice as a psychotherapist, hospice social worker, and EA consultant for almost 30 years, I have sat by patients’ bedsides as their families came to terms with the inevitable. But grief and loss dur- ing this pandemic are like no other time we have ever experienced.