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Losing a job is deeply shocking. It is a loss of livelihood: the ability to support ourselves and often our families. But the emotional impact goes beyond financial stress. For many people, work offers valued meanings and relationships and when the work goes, these frequently go with it, prompting our shame and anger as well as sorrow at leaving people, projects, and a place to which we have given a large part of ourselves. But perhaps most significant is the impact of job loss on our identity or sense of self. For many, work is not only a large part of our waking hours but also who we feel we are. This is especially true if we were doing a job that we loved, or one in a career built over years. The loss of this identity can be devastating.
