What Is Traumatic Grief Therapy?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsTraumatic GriefTherapy TechniquesWhat to ExpectHow It WorksTherapy BenefitsEffectivenessIf You Don’t Deal With GriefGetting Started

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Traumatic Grief

Therapy Techniques

What to Expect

How It Works

Therapy Benefits

Effectiveness

If You Don’t Deal With Grief

Getting Started

Close

When a loved one passes away unexpectedly, the people left behind often experience traumatic grief.Traumatic grief therapy can be a helpful and healthy way to deal with intense feelings of grief, also helping usprocess painful emotions.

Jennifer R. Levin, PhD, a therapist with expertise in thanatology (the study of death, dying, and bereavement), explains that traumatic grief therapy “simultaneously addresses the trauma response and grief associated with a traumatic death.” Here we explore this therapy in greater detail, including how to get started.

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What Is Traumatic Grief?

Traumatic grief takes place after a loved one passes away in what Levin describes as “usually, but not always, in a sudden, unexpected manner.” Examples of death that might lead to traumatic grief include:

“Traumatic grief can also occur when an individual, who is a survivor, is involved in the incident that took a loved one’s life, witnessed what happened, or found a deceased loved one,” Levin says. Additionally, if someone needs to make difficult medical decisions regarding a loved one’s care, such as resuscitation or terminating life support, atrauma responsecan follow.

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Traumatic Grief Therapy Techniques

The goals of traumatic grief therapy include emotional regulation, reduction of trauma symptoms, learning skills to cope with and manage the trauma, and processing losses associated with the grief. This therapy is often tailored to address an individual’s specific needs and symptoms.

Traumatic grief therapy can draw on various techniques to achieve its goals, including those associated with:

What to Expect With Traumatic Grief Therapy

Everyone’s traumatic grief therapy journey differs. That said, Levin outlines some general steps that can be expected throughout the therapy process.

Stabilization

Stabilization is the step in which a sense of rapport and feelings of safety are developed between the person and their therapist. The focus is on routine and structure so the person can rebuild an environment in which their body will begin to trust again.

Jennifer R. Levin, PhDWe focus on how to regulate emotions, calm the nervous system, develop skills to self-regulate, and build a support system.

Jennifer R. Levin, PhD

We focus on how to regulate emotions, calm the nervous system, develop skills to self-regulate, and build a support system.

Processing

After building a solid foundation, the person begins to process their trauma and grief using the skills learned in the first step. If this leads to feeling overwhelmed or other trauma responses, Levin says that stopping and going back to earlier skills can help decrease symptoms andincrease coping skills.

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Continual Grief Work

This step focuses on several things, some of which include:

In this stage, participants may seek further treatment through individual therapy,group therapy, or both.

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How Traumatic Grief Therapy Works

There are two key signs that someone may be dealing with traumatic grief. One is a trauma response that interacts with grief. “The trauma response is what makes traumatic grief different from other forms of grief,” Levin explains.

The other is the shattering of assumptive expectations that guide us in the world. Trauma upends some of our most basic assumptions, such as:

When these expectations are challenged with a sudden and painful loss, traumatic grief can shake the very core of our belief system. Traumatic grief therapy works to help restore normalcy and help us better process and understand the trauma and its effects.

While everyone has different reactions to trauma, traumatic grief therapy can help peoplecope with various aspects of a trauma response, including:Psychological/emotional responsesCognitive responsesPhysical responsesBehavioral responses

While everyone has different reactions to trauma, traumatic grief therapy can help peoplecope with various aspects of a trauma response, including:

Benefits of Traumatic Grief Therapy

Traumatic grief therapy can provide many benefits, according to Levin, some of which include:

“So many of my clients cannot envision continuing on without their loved one,” Levin says, “especially when a spouse dies.” While many are not suicidal, they often show a lack of motivation or desire to engage with the world. Traumatic grief therapy helps. With time, patience, and the belief that life can improve, many go on to lead meaningful lives.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, contact theNational Suicide Prevention Lifelineat988for support and assistance from a trained counselor. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.

Effectiveness of Traumatic Grief Therapy

Research suggests that therapy can be an effective tool for helping people manage the symptoms and experiences of traumatic grief.

Why Dealing With Grief Is Important

People who bottle their grief or pretend it doesn’t exist may resist seeking out traumatic grief therapy. But taking this approach can have a number of negative effects on personal well-being.

Levin says that people may experience a “continuation or an increase of trauma symptoms, includingrumination about details of the incident, flashbacks, nightmares,hypervigilance anxiety, and depression.”

Grief may also increase the risk of physical and mental health disorders, such asacute stress disorder,post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD), unhealthy coping mechanisms, and an increased risk ofsubstance misuse.

“You may be able to repress symptoms for the short term,” Levin says, “but it will come back and cause bigger issues, or you will have multiple issues to address.”

Getting Started With Traumatic Grief Therapy

If the trauma symptoms a person is experiencing and/or the pain of grief is making it difficult to function in areas such as work, taking care of others, getting out of bed, or getting through the day—it’s likely time to seek out traumatic grief therapy.

Talk to a doctor about the symptoms experienced and ask them for a referral to a mental health professional who can provide this type of therapy. Some research also suggests that web-based options may be helpful for relieving symptoms associated with grief and bereavement,soonline therapyis also an option.

What Does Grieving Do to Your Body?

5 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Boelen PA.Peritraumatic distress and dissociation in prolonged grief and posttraumatic stress following violent and unexpected deaths.J Trauma Dissociation. 2015;16(5):541-550. doi:10.10180/15299732.2015.1027841Smid GE, Kleber RJ, de la Rie SM, Bos JB, Gersons BP, Boelen PA.Brief eclectic psychotherapy for traumatic grief (BEP-TG): Toward integrated treatment of symptoms related to traumatic loss.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2015;6:27324. doi:10.3402/ejpt.v6.27324de Heus A, Hengst SMC, de la Rie SM, Djelantik AAAMJ, Boelen PA, Smid GE.Day patient treatment for traumatic grief: Preliminary evaluation of a one-year treatment programme for patients with multiple and traumatic losses.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2017;8(1):1375335. doi:10.1080/20008198.2017.1375335O’Connor MF.Grief: A brief history of research on how body, mind, and brain adapt.Psychosom Med. 2019;81(8):731-738. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000717Wagner B, Rosenberg N, Hofmann L, Maass U.Web-based bereavement care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Front Psychiatry. 2020;11:525. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00525

5 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Boelen PA.Peritraumatic distress and dissociation in prolonged grief and posttraumatic stress following violent and unexpected deaths.J Trauma Dissociation. 2015;16(5):541-550. doi:10.10180/15299732.2015.1027841Smid GE, Kleber RJ, de la Rie SM, Bos JB, Gersons BP, Boelen PA.Brief eclectic psychotherapy for traumatic grief (BEP-TG): Toward integrated treatment of symptoms related to traumatic loss.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2015;6:27324. doi:10.3402/ejpt.v6.27324de Heus A, Hengst SMC, de la Rie SM, Djelantik AAAMJ, Boelen PA, Smid GE.Day patient treatment for traumatic grief: Preliminary evaluation of a one-year treatment programme for patients with multiple and traumatic losses.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2017;8(1):1375335. doi:10.1080/20008198.2017.1375335O’Connor MF.Grief: A brief history of research on how body, mind, and brain adapt.Psychosom Med. 2019;81(8):731-738. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000717Wagner B, Rosenberg N, Hofmann L, Maass U.Web-based bereavement care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Front Psychiatry. 2020;11:525. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00525

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Boelen PA.Peritraumatic distress and dissociation in prolonged grief and posttraumatic stress following violent and unexpected deaths.J Trauma Dissociation. 2015;16(5):541-550. doi:10.10180/15299732.2015.1027841Smid GE, Kleber RJ, de la Rie SM, Bos JB, Gersons BP, Boelen PA.Brief eclectic psychotherapy for traumatic grief (BEP-TG): Toward integrated treatment of symptoms related to traumatic loss.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2015;6:27324. doi:10.3402/ejpt.v6.27324de Heus A, Hengst SMC, de la Rie SM, Djelantik AAAMJ, Boelen PA, Smid GE.Day patient treatment for traumatic grief: Preliminary evaluation of a one-year treatment programme for patients with multiple and traumatic losses.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2017;8(1):1375335. doi:10.1080/20008198.2017.1375335O’Connor MF.Grief: A brief history of research on how body, mind, and brain adapt.Psychosom Med. 2019;81(8):731-738. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000717Wagner B, Rosenberg N, Hofmann L, Maass U.Web-based bereavement care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Front Psychiatry. 2020;11:525. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00525

Boelen PA.Peritraumatic distress and dissociation in prolonged grief and posttraumatic stress following violent and unexpected deaths.J Trauma Dissociation. 2015;16(5):541-550. doi:10.10180/15299732.2015.1027841

Smid GE, Kleber RJ, de la Rie SM, Bos JB, Gersons BP, Boelen PA.Brief eclectic psychotherapy for traumatic grief (BEP-TG): Toward integrated treatment of symptoms related to traumatic loss.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2015;6:27324. doi:10.3402/ejpt.v6.27324

de Heus A, Hengst SMC, de la Rie SM, Djelantik AAAMJ, Boelen PA, Smid GE.Day patient treatment for traumatic grief: Preliminary evaluation of a one-year treatment programme for patients with multiple and traumatic losses.Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2017;8(1):1375335. doi:10.1080/20008198.2017.1375335

O’Connor MF.Grief: A brief history of research on how body, mind, and brain adapt.Psychosom Med. 2019;81(8):731-738. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000717

Wagner B, Rosenberg N, Hofmann L, Maass U.Web-based bereavement care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Front Psychiatry. 2020;11:525. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00525

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