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What is Primary, Secondary, and Symbolic loss?

Tami J. Micsky, DSW, MSSA, LSW, CT

August 19, 2020

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What is Primary, Secondary, and Symbolic loss?

Answer

When we talk about loss, I like to talk about it related to primary, secondary, and symbolic losses. Primary loss is typically referred to as a major loss. And then we have the secondary and symbolic losses that occur as a result of the primary loss. So, the primary loss, for example, maybe a loss due to death. So, maybe the death of a spouse. 

A secondary loss for that person who is experiencing the loss of their spouse could be a loss of income. So, maybe that person was the primary breadwinner, and they are no longer there to work. They have also not only lost their spouse, but they have lost their financial income as well. 

Symbolic losses are things more like a loss of identity. Someone who identifies as a spouse or as a husband, and then the wife dies, and then there is some question about “What is my role?” or “How do I identify?”.  Also, things like the loss of a sense of future. So, maybe this spouse or a couple intended to live together, retire together, travel together, and now that is no longer a possibility. So that would be what we would consider a symbolic loss. 

 

This Ask the Expert is an edited excerpt from the webinar, A Pandemic of Loss: Coping with Grief, presented by Tami J. Micsky, DSW, MSSA, LSW, CT.


tami j micsky

Tami J. Micsky, DSW, MSSA, LSW, CT

Dr. Tami Micsky is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. She is an Adjunct Professor at Mercyhurst and Aurora Universities and is Contributing Faculty in the MSW program at Walden University. Dr. Micsky is a Licensed Social Worker and Certified Thanatologist, who has been working with children, teens, and young adults for over twenty years. Dr. Micsky received her BSW from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, her MSSA from Case Western Reserve University, and a DSW from Millersville & Kutztown Universities. Dr. Micsky is a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the Council on Social Work Education, the Association of Baccalaureate Program Directors, and the Association of Death Education and Counseling.


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