Lifelong Legacy of Early Maternal Loss: A Women's Group

Early maternal loss is a traumatic event with lifelong impact on a woman's sense of self and on her subsequent development. Feelings of isolation, confusion, and anxiety are common and normal life-cycle milestones and transitions are particularly difficult. This paper describes the use of short-term groups with this population and suggests that this approach fosters personal growth. The group experience proved to be a powerful and effective antidote to each member's experience of feeling profoundly isolated and alone. The group became a supportive and safe place for the women to continue the normal grieving process and to deal with the unique legacy of their mothers' deaths on their adult lives.