What is Anticipatory Grief

Anticipatory grief is unique from traditional grief as it involves experiencing a loss prior to the loss actually occurring. This form of grief can be experienced by an individual, family members, or both. This grief is not exclusively due to the loss of another person. Anticipatory grief can include loss of dreams, safety, autonomy, marriages, homes, and many others. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of anticipatory losses the world faced all at the same time was monumental. Those effects are still affecting many people today. In this chapter, the theory of anticipatory grief will be explored in detail along with the impacts from COVID-19, therapeutic interventions that can be utilized when working with clients and family members and how those implications impact counselors within the field.