There is a light within each of us that need never entirely go out. We can lose the battles, but not the war. We can go on when our minds tell us that there is no point in going on- because something deep inside tells us we can go on. And we do. ~ A. Powell Davies
A colleague writes: I am wondering if you would send me your best recommendations for dealing with traumatic loss. If you know any activities or rituals that can help a person heal that would be helpful. A coworker is dealing with a traumatic event and has asked for some help. Thanks so much.
My response: There are so many resources available nowadays, and without knowing a little more detail about your coworker (e.g., age, gender, nature of the traumatic event, etc.), it's difficult for me to recommend the "best" ones for his or her specific circumstances. Loss that stems from a chronic or lingering illness, that is sudden and unexpected, or happens as a result of an accident or a fire, a natural or a national disaster, an abortion, a suicide, a homicide, domestic violence, abandonment, incarceration, relinquishment of a baby through adoption ~ any loss that produces a complex and difficult ending ~ can be considered traumatic.
Below I've listed a number of resources focusing on various types of trauma, separated into broad categories, which I hope will be of help to you. (As always, if anyone else reading this knows of any others that should be included, please feel free to let me know in the Comments section below.)
Organizations and Websites
- After Abortion: Rachel's Vineyard Ministries
- After Abortion: Help for Post Abortion Stress Syndrome (PASS)
- AirCraft Casualty Emotional Support Services (ACCESS)
- After Adoption: Birth Parent Loss and Grief
- American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (AAETS)
- AMF: National Students of Ailing Mothers and Fathers Support Network for College Students
- Campaign to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse: Stop It Now!
- Center for Loss and Trauma (Phoenix and Sedona, AZ)
- Center for Mind-Body Medicine
- Children's Mental Health: Coping in the Wake of a Traumatic Event
- Concerns of Police Survivors, Inc. (COPS)
- Drowning Support Network
- Ellie's Way: Assisting Those Affected by Tragedies
- GriefPrints
- Grief Recovery After A Substance Abuse Passing (GRASP)
- Griefwork Center: Crisis Information and Training
- Health Journeys: Resources for Mind, Body and Spirit
- Homicide: Resources for Death, Grief, and Survivors of Homicide
- International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
- Living with Heart
- MADD: Helping Families Victimized by Drunk Driving
- National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- National Donor Family Council: Home for Donor Families
- National Fallen Firefighters Foundation
- National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA)
- National Resource Directory for Military Families
- National Society of Military Widows
- Office for Victims of Crime: Help Series for Crime Victims
- Online Grief Healing Discussion Groups
- Parents of Suicide
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- PTSD Alliance
- PTSD and Trauma Residential Treatment Center: The Refuge, A Healing Place
- Real Warriors: Resilience, Recovery, Reintegration for Returning Service Members, Veterans and Their Families
- Refuge for Victims of Domestic Violence
- Safe Horizon: Moving Victims of Violence from Crisis to Confidence
- Sawbonna: Speaker. Advocate. Justice Advisor.
- Sexual Abuse: After Silence: Online Support for Survivors of Rape, Sexual Assault, Sexual Abuse
- Sexual Abuse: Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN)
- Sexual Abuse: Survivors of Incest Anonymous (SIA)
- Shaken Baby Alliance
- Sidran Institute: Traumatic Stress Education and Advocacy
- Support After a Death by Overdose (SADOD)
- Support after Manslaughter and Murder Abroad (SAMM)
- Survivor Resources
- Theodore's Place--Voice. Resilience. Community.
- Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)
- Traumatic Brain Injury Center - Spinal Cord Injury Resource
Articles / Guides / Interviews
- Acute Stress Disorder
- Articles by Belleruth Naparstek, Expert in PTSD and Innovator in Guided Imagery
- Articles on Murder of a Sister by Shirley Wiles-Dickinson
- Articles on Trauma by Dr. Kathleen Young, Specialist in Treatment of Trauma
- Bearing the Unbearable - Online Course with Dr. Joanne Cacciatore
- Chronic or Persistent Pain: Finding the Energy to Heal
- Complicated Grief in Those Bereaved by Violent Death
- Coping With Disasters and Terrorism (APA)
- Coping with Sudden and Traumatic Loss
- Dealing with Sudden, Accidental or Traumatic Death
- Domestic Violence During The Pandemic: Resources for Victims and Survivors
- Embracing Change: Transforming Traumatic Grief (Interview with Courtney Armstrong)
- EMDR Helped Her Overcome Paralyzing Grief
- Emotional and Psychological Trauma
- Explaining Suicide to a Child
- Grief After A Murder
- Grief After Traumatic Loss
- Grief Arising from Sudden and Traumatic Loss
- Guidelines for Responding to the Death of a Student or School Staff
- Helping A Homicide Survivor Heal
- Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Violence and Disasters
- Helping Military Kids with Traumatic Death by Linda Goldman
- How Do You Move Forward after Causing Accidental Injury or Death (CADI)?
- How Dogs Can Help with Mental Health
- How to Know If Technology Is Making Your Anxiety Worse by Cheryl Gerson
- In Grief: Causing Accidental Death or Injury (CADI) to Another
- In Grief: Coping with Deaths "Close Enough to Hurt"
- Learning to Live with What Is Broken by Gretchen Smelzer
- My Mom's Violent Death Gave Me PTSD
- Multiple Losses Can Increase Isolation
- New Research Shows Simple Meditation Can Outperform a Standard V.A. Trauma Therapy
- Overcoming Trauma and PTSD Associated with Physical Spaces
- Parental Grief in the Wake of Homicide
- PTSD: How Service and Therapy Dogs Are Helping PTSD Victims
- PTSD: Home Management Strategies
- PTSD Self-Assessment Screening Test
- PTSD Self-Test and Guide
- Recongizing Child Abuse: Prevention Tips for All of Us
- Remembering September 11- Coping with Aftershocks
- Supporting Children When A Loved One Dies of A Drug Overdose
- Supporting Survivors of Trauma: How to Avoid Re-Traumatization
- Support Systems for Students Affected by Trauma
- Surviving A Child's Homicide
- Tools to Keep Guided Imagery a Deep Healing Experience for Trauma Survivors; Ways to Prevent Triggering
- Tragedy in Boston, Collective Grief and Aftershocks of Loss
- Trauma After the Aurora Theater Shooting
- Trauma-Informed Care | New Directions for Women
- Traumatic Loss: Needing to Know the Details
- Traumatic Shock
- Tsunami Aftershock: Grief, Sickness
- Understanding Bullying In The Modern Age
- Understanding Traumatic Grief--Mass Violence, Shattered Lives
- Using Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) in Grief
- Weighted Blankets for PTSD
- What Is PTSD?
- What Raffi Muskier Taught Me About Traumatic Grief
- What Works Best for Traumatized Troops
- When Grief Meets Injustice: The Fight Against Wrongful Death
- When Grief Seems Insignificant by Comparison
- Woman Overwhelmed by Series of Major Losses
- Working with Survivors of Homicide Victims (from Parents of Murdered Children)
Books, Booklets
- A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss by Jerry Sittser
- A to Z Healing Toolbox:A Practical Guide for Navigating Grief and Trauma with Intention by Susan Hannifin-MacNab
- After the Death of a Child: Living with Loss through the Years by Ann Finkbeiner
- Bearing the Unbearable: Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief by Joanne Cacciatore
- Coping with Traumatic Grief: Homicide by Bob Baugher, PhD and Lew Cox
- Crash Course: Self-Healing Guide to Auto Accident Trauma and Recovery
- Handbook for Survivors of Suicide by Jeffrey Jackson
- Healing Your Grief When A Natural Disaster Strikes: 100 Practical Ideas for Coping by Alan Wolfelt
- Invisible Heroes : Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal by Belleruth Naparstek
- I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Death of a Loved One by Brook Noel and Pamela D Blair, PhD
- Loss of the Assumptive World: A Theory of Traumatic Loss Edited by Jeffrey Kauffman
- Love You, Mean It: A True Story of Love, Loss, and Friendship by Patricia Carrington et al
- No Time for Goodbyes: Coping with Sorrow, Anger and Injustice After a Tragic Death by Janice Harris Lord
- No Words: A True Story of Love, Tragic Loss, and Ultimate Survival by Renee Kimberling
- Shattered: Trauma and Grief by Hospice Foundation of America
- Spiritually Sensitive Caregiving by Janice Harris Lord
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk, MD
- The Sudden Loss Survival Guide by Chelsea Hanson
- The Transformation: Discovering Wholeness and Healing After Trauma by James S. Gordan, MD
- Transforming Traumatic Grief: Six Steps to Move from Grief to Peace after the Sudden or Traumatic Death of a Loved One by Courtney Armstrong
- What to Do When the Police Leave : A Guide to the First Days of Traumatic Loss by Bill Jenkins
- When Crisis Strikes...What To Do, What To Say, How to Help by Allidah Poole Hicks and Bonnie Knuti
Specific Topics
- After a 9/11 Loss, Grieving Meant Making Space for Feelings
- Deadly Car Accident Takes Two Daughters
- Death Notification in Traumatic Loss: Information for Doctors and Nurses
- Death Notification: Tips from Survivors
- Five Tips to Help You Through the Grief of An Overdose Death
- Following Sister's Murder, Questions Abound (Article by Shirley Wiles-Dickinson)
- GotTrouble.com: Access to Legal Information and Resources
- Grief and the Homicide Survivor
- Grief After Accidents, Suicide, and Other Sudden Losses
- Grief Support After An Overdose Death
- Guided Imagery: Our Top 5 Frequently Asked Questions
- Helping Children Cope after a School Shooting
- How to Cope With A Mass Tragedy
- How to Guide Children After Trauma
- How Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Affects Sleep
- Hurricane Katrina: Letters to Survivors
- I Lost My Son to A Drug Overdose
- In Grief: Surviving The Trauma of Abuse
- “I sadly lost my boy, 18 years old, in a car accident…”
- Managing Anxiety in the Age of School Shootings
- More Than A Feeling: How Shame Subverts Healing
- Next of Kin Notification Steps
- Post-Traumatic Stress after A Traffic Accident
- Postvention Toolkit for A Military Suicide Loss Pushing 'Closure' After Trauma Can Be Harmful
- Preparing a Victim Impact Statement
- Processing Grief After Tragedy
- Substance Abuse Resources for Veterans
- Survival Manual: Resources for Survivors of Abuse and Those Who Love Them
- Talking to Your Child About Sexual Abuse
- The Effects Death, Trauma and Disasters Have on Mental Health
- The Grief of an Overdose Death: Part 1
- The Grief of an Overdose Death: Part 2
- The Shock of Learning New Information After a Death
- Tips for Talking to and Supporting Children After A School Shooting Or Other Traumatic Loss: Do's and Don'ts
- Tools for Healing Trauma in Kids and First Responders in Broward County
- Tragic Death of A Mother at Another's Hand
- Trauma and Mental Health Report
- Understanding Bullying in the Modern Age
- Understanding Rape Grief
Trauma-Focused Therapies
- AForm of 'Ecstasy' [MDMA] Could Be A New Treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress
- The Wisdom of Your Dreams: Using Dreams to Tap into Your Unconscious and Transform Your Life
- Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
- Energy Psychology and Energy Psychotherapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
- In Grief: Using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- N.O.W. Tone Therapy System
- Somatic Experiencing®
- Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) Procedure
- Tapas Acupressure Technique (TAT)
- Trauma Incident Reduction (TIR)
- Trauma Release and Repatterning: Nervous System Energy Work (NSEW)
- Trauma to Art: Turning Grief Into Creative Expression
- What Is EMDR?
- Yoga for Seniors, with Carol Dickman
Your feedback is welcome! Please feel free to leave a comment or a question, or share a tip, a related article or a resource of your own in the Comments section below. If you’d like Grief Healing Blog updates delivered right to your inbox, you’re cordially invited to subscribe to our weekly Grief Healing Newsletter. Sign up here.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are welcome!