The Link Between Grief and Trauma: A Tailored Treatment

When we work in trauma for years on end, the inevitability of vicarious trauma and moral injury are ever present. As seasoned trauma professionals, we often have basic trainings around vicarious/secondary trauma, but we don't often go deeper to discern our own very personal reactions and how this can create a deep grief response that is hard for those who are not in our field to understand. Left unaddressed, this grief reaction can adversely impact our relationships, our professional offerings, and our own mental health.

This training will be for intermediate to advanced practitioners seeking a more in-depth and interactive approach to both discussing and responding to vicarious trauma and all that it causes in our lives. We will discuss practical recommendations from my book, "Trauma Intelligence: The Art of Helping in a World Filled with Pain," and some of the tenents of The Grief Recovery Method. Additionally, there will be ample opportunity for high-level discussion, questions and case studies. This training will be very beneficial for those wanting to both understand their own reactions more deeply, as well as learn more tools for impactfully responding to team members with the same challenges.

Objectives:

• To define vicarious and secondary trauma in a more in-depth way.
• To introduce and discuss the concept of grief as related to vicarious/secondary trauma and the inevitable moral injury that results.
• To dig deeper into personal and team experiences related to vicarious trauma and grief.
• To interact and reflect on things that are working and things that are not.
• To learn and digest new tools for more impactfully understanding and responding to the grief aspect of vicarious trauma.