Grieving Those We Never Farewelled

The Missing Persons Advocacy Network (MPAN) has joined forces with creative technology agency whiteGREY, a global expert, and the loved ones of missing persons across 8 countries, to launch a world-first therapeutic language tool designed to help affected family and friends navigate ambiguous loss. 

Ambiguous loss is a unique and harrowing type of grief experienced by the loved ones of long-term missing persons – considered by many psychologists to be the most traumatic type of loss. Unlike standard grief, it is a continual loss, complicating and delaying the grieving process, leading to unresolved grief.

Launching ahead of National Missing Persons Week (July 31–August 6), The Hope Narratives is a tool for putting the emotional complexity of ambiguous loss into words, using the lived experiences of others. 

Created with global ambiguous loss expert, Dr Sarah Wayland, the Hope Narratives are designed to help people find a way through the grief, and to know they are not alone. The cards combine over 500 collective years of experience into 145 modular statements, which connect to become over 1.4 million possible Hope Narratives. According to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) latest data, 145 is the number of Australians reported missing every day.

Loren O’Keeffe, founder and CEO of the Missing Persons Advocacy Network, said: “When a loved one goes missing, there is no right way to deal with it. You oscillate from hope to hopelessness, overwhelmed by the physical, mental and emotional burden, often feeling no one understands what you’re going through. By supporting loved ones with this very special set of cards, our aim is to address a complicated grief that’s historically been a misunderstood area of mental health for thousands of Australians.”

Joe Hill, executive creative director, whiteGREY Melbourne, said: “MPAN’s mission to support loved ones of missing persons and Dr Sarah Wayland’s incredible work on finding hope within ambiguous loss define a unique creative space. 

The Hope Narratives is a response to this space: a tool designed to help a community, made from the lived experiences of that community. We are incredibly proud to have played a role in the development of a narrative tool that will not only help the loved ones of missing persons, but will go on to set a precedent for ways this complex and devastating type of loss can be addressed around the world.”

According to the AFP, over 53,000 people were reported missing in Australia last year; a more than 30% rise in reports since 2020. While most are found within a week, over 400 people annually become long-term missing persons.

The Hope Narratives are available via MPAN. For further information on The Hope Narratives, visit: www.mpan.com.au/hope