When trauma is also grief
Recognizing that June is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month, we are challenged to look at PTSD not only as a clinical disorder, but as a form of traumatic grief. It is the body, mind, and spirit carrying profound losses that have not yet found a safe place to be fully mourned. After a traumatic event, individuals certainly grieve the person or people who died, but they also grieve their own sense of safety, trust, identity, innocence, faith, or the future they once thought they would have. This reframing matters deeply. Too often in our society, symptoms are treated ...