Living in the Liminal Space

VANISH CEO Dr Michelle Blanchard recently joined Dr Sarah Wayland, Professor Myfanwy Maple, Lili Greer, Dr Tara Lal and Loren O’Keefe to celebrate the launch of Sarah’s new book, Living in the Liminal Space: Understanding the Lived Experience of Ambiguous or Unresolved Loss to Enhance How We Care for Those Left Behind. The book draws on Sarah’s research and practice as well as the lived experience of people impacted by adoption other forms of ambiguous loss. 

The launch included a panel conversation about the many forms that ambiguous loss can take, and how we can better support people living with grief, uncertainty and unanswered questions when there may be no clear resolution.

Michelle reflected on how strongly these ideas connect with the experiences of people in the VANISH community. So much of VANISH’s work involves walking alongside people whose losses do not fit neatly within society’s usual expectations of grief: a mother who wonders about her now-adult child, an adoptee who has never known one or both of their parents, or a father who wonders what might have been if he had known about his child earlier.

The conversation also explored the importance of resisting expectations of “closure” and instead recognising that people can build meaningful lives while continuing to carry uncertainty, absence and loss.

It was a thoughtful and engaging evening, and an opportunity to connect VANISH’s work with a broader conversation about how we understand and respond to losses that are often complex, ongoing and invisible.

VANISH congratulates Sarah on the publication of Living in the Liminal Space and this important contribution to the field.