Treating Traumatic Loss: A Clinician's Guide to Helping Clients Cope with a Sudden, Violent, or Difficult Death Using the GRIEF Approach

Help your clients on their grief journey with this comprehensive, transdiagnostic guide—created specifically for clinicians treating adult survivors of traumatic loss.

Although grief and feelings of loss after the death of a loved one are natural and universal experiences, sudden, violent, and traumatic loss puts survivors at increased risk for a range of mental health problems and greatly complicates the grieving process. The Grief Recovery with Individualized Evidence-Based Formulation (GRIEF) approach is designed specifically for treating individuals suffering from the grief that results from a traumatic death, and provides a transdiagnostic, modular, and comprehensive framework to target the common underlying symptoms of PTSD, depression, and prolonged grief disorder (PGD).

Treating Traumatic Loss starts with an introduction to traumatic loss and the GRIEF approach model, then guides you, step by step, through treatment planning—from conducting a thorough assessment of symptoms informed by a multicultural lens, to selecting modules for intervention. A chapter dedicated to each of eight modules provides recommendations on how to perform intervention techniques, and includes handouts and worksheets for use in your practice.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), experiential, and narrative practices and strategies from both the trauma and grief fields are synthesized into one module-based approach that addresses the unique needs of your clients—providing a powerful, flexible, and individualized way to improve treatment outcomes.

Filled with the latest research and cutting-edge treatment options, this comprehensive guide will give you everything you need to help your clients heal from traumatic loss and move forward in their lives.

Alyssa A. Rheingold, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, professor, and associate director of the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is director of the Response, Recovery & Resilience division of the National Mass Violence Center providing support to communities impacted by mass violence. Rheingold has been working in the traumatic loss field for over two decades, and has numerous federally funded service and research grants supporting her work. She has published over one hundred peer-reviewed articles and book chapters in the areas of trauma, interpersonal violence, traumatic grief, death by homicide, and anxiety.

Joah L. Williams, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, and associate professor in the department of psychology at The University of Memphis in Memphis, TN. He has published more than fifty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters related to the assessment, prevention, and treatment of trauma-related mental health problems; and received the Robert Magwood Jr., Outstanding Service to Crime Victims Award in 2015 in recognition of his work with victims of violence. He is also actively involved in clinical training, and regularly conducts trainings and workshops on clinical interventions for victims of violence and traumatic loss survivors.

Megan M. Wallace, LISW-CP, is a licensed independent social worker for the state of South Carolina. She is clinical assistant professor and director of clinical operations for the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center within the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina, and associate director for the Community Outreach Program-Esperanza. Wallace is trained in evidence-based treatment of trauma-related mental health issues, specifically focusing on child abuse and loss by homicide. She has expertise in traumatic loss, evidence-based trauma treatment approaches, telehealth service delivery, and community- and school-based mental health approaches.

Jamison S. Bottomley, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, and research assistant professor at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center within the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina. His research expertise includes the study of traumatic loss with an emphasis on bereavement following suicide and fatal opioid-related overdose. His program of research has been generously supported by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).

Foreword writer Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, is professor emeritus in the department of psychology at the University of Memphis. He maintains an active consulting practice, and directs the Portland Institute for Loss and Transition, which provides global online training in grief therapy.