Therapy for Traumatic Bereavement.
A traumatic bereavement can happen when a death is sudden, unexpected, or involves distressing circumstances like accidents, suicide, violence, or natural disasters. This kind of loss can be overwhelming, leaving you experiencing intense emotions and struggling to process your grief. The trauma experienced can make it difficult to begin mourning, and can profoundly impact your mental health and daily life.
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Trauma happens when a distressing event is so intense or extreme that it overwhelms our ability to cope, leaving a lasting impact on our wellbeing and how we function day-to-day. Bereavement is the experience of the death of someone significant. When you experience a traumatic bereavement, you are faced with the enormous impact of the trauma, which can get in the way of the natural grieving process.
Traumatic bereavement is when the natural grieving process is disrupted as a result of the trauma of the death.
Traumatic Bereavement
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When a loved one dies you might experience all sorts of very big and painful thoughts and feelings. A traumatic bereavement adds its own unique challenges. You might feel shock, anger, confusion, guilt or disbelief. It can also bring about a huge sense of helplessness, or a struggle to make sense of the loss. Trauma can manifest in many ways. You might experience physical symptoms, anxiety, panic, flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive thoughts.​ You might feel numb, disassociated or disconnected from others during this time. Friends and family may not fully understand the complexity of your grief, or you may find it difficult to express what you are feeling. This isolation can make the burden of traumatic bereavement feel even heavier. But please know, you don't have to go through this alone.
Traumatic bereavement therapy
​​​In therapy, I provide a safe, supportive space where we can gently explore both the trauma and your grief at your own pace. Some areas we may explore together include:
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Processing the Trauma
Everyone experiences trauma differently, and it can change over time - even years after the event. We can work together to process the trauma, helping you move from survival mode to a sense of safety and control.
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Exploring Complex Emotions
Traumatic grief often involves complex feelings such as guilt, anger, or responsibility. In a non-judgemental space, we can explore these feelings, giving you room to understand them.
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Grieving and Rebuilding
When someone you love dies, it can be hard to imagine life moving forward. Therapy can help you gently rebuild your sense of self and find a path that honours both your loved one’s memory, your grief, and your own needs.
Arts Psychotherapies and Traumatic bereavement
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Dramatherapy can be especially helpful for traumatic grief. I can support you to use creative approaches to help you explore and process your traumatic bereavement safely.
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Processing Trauma Safely
Traumatic bereavement can feel overwhelming, and too raw or intense to engage with directly. Dramatherapy can help you process the trauma at a safe distance, using creative techniques that help contain and manage the emotional intensity so you don't feel overwhelmed. For example, by creating a story or a character, you can explore your experience through another figure or narrative, enabling you to safely explore and process the trauma without being re-traumatised.​ This buffer provides some emotional distance and thus safety.​
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When Words Aren't Enough or Possible
You may be struggling to communicate how you feel verbally. Traumatic grief can involve intense emotions like shock, guilt, anger, or profound sadness, which you may find very hard to put into words. Dramatherapy can help you find non-verbal methods of expression. We might use colours, song lyrics, fabrics, drawing, painting, or stories, to help you to express, gain insight, and process your trauma and grief in ways that feel less overwhelming than directly talking about it.
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Working with the Body
Trauma and grief manifest physically, leading to tension, anxiety, pain, or feeling disconnected from your body. Dramatherapy can gently and safely help you reconnect to your body. Embodied approaches can help you process trauma, shock, and grief that is stored and stuck in the body. Even when our mind is doing its very best to avoid the big feelings and traumatic experience, our body remembers and holds it. "The body keeps the score".​​
Traumatic grief can feel intense and overwhelming, but please remember that you don’t have to go through this alone. It might be that your traumatic bereavement happened many years ago. Wherever you are in your journey, I am here to support you.
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Therapy for traumatic bereavement can often be longer-term. Each session is focused on providing you with the support you need as you work through your trauma and grief. Together, we will address the complexities of your experience in a way that feels right for you.
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Please get in touch if you would like to arrange support with your grief journey ​or book a free 15-minute introductory chat at a time to suit you. You can expect a warm, non-judgmental, professional, and down-to-earth welcome. ​​I look forward to accompanying you on your journey.