Gone Before Gone: When Mental Illness Steals Someone You Love (Ep. 136)

Guest: (returning) Jerri Niebaum Clark

(Episodes 85 and 32 - Ambiguous Loss and Advocacy)

In Gone Before Gone, Clark describes her son’s “death by degrees” during a young adulthood wrecked by severe mental illness.

Surviving a parent’s nightmare led to Clark’s memoir of self-help—a toolkit for living with “ambiguous loss,” a term coined by Pauline Boss, PhD, an academic, author, and long-time family therapist. Trained by Boss herself, Clark has blended Boss’ concepts with her own experiences and the coping skills she’s cultivated as a long-time yoga teacher.

The result is a book like none other. Part memoir, part survival guide, complete with practical exercises .

Quick recap

Jerri Clark explained how she transformed her grief into a practical guide using ambiguous loss theory, applying these concepts specifically to families dealing with severe mental illness, emphasizing that families can heal while still experiencing pain, and challenging common platitudes about grief and strength.

Jerri shared insights about the importance of proper treatment, including clozapine and assisted outpatient treatment, and how families should not be defined solely by their caregiving roles. The episode concluded with all 3 Moms' (Mimi was not able to be there, Jerri is Mom #3)  message that families can live fulfilling lives alongside ongoing grief and advocacy work.

Gone Before Gone book:

https://a.co/d/0gQFqukA

Johns Hopkins Symposium:

https://events.jhu.edu/form/schizophrenia-center-annual-symp

Mindy and her book: https://mindygreiling.com/

Randye and her book: https://randyekaye.com/

Miriam and her book: https://www.miriam-feldman.com/