Some losses don't just break your heart.
They shatter your sense of the world.
When death comes suddenly, violently, or without warning — through an accident, a homicide, a suicide, or a medical emergency no one saw coming — grief and trauma arrive together.
You may find yourself replaying the moment you found out, or the moment itself, over and over.
You may feel like the world no longer feels safe or predictable the way it used to.
This isn't only grief — it's traumatic grief, and it deserves an approach built for both halves of what you're carrying.
This might sound familiar…..
“People keep treating this like 'normal' grief, but it doesn't feel that way.”
“I can't stop replaying how they died.”
“I don't feel safe in the world anymore.”
“The nightmares or flashbacks about what happened are overwhelming.”
This grief carries trauma inside it — so therapy has to address both.
Sudden, violent, or unexpected death doesn't just bring loss. It can leave behind intrusive memories, hypervigilance, and a belief that the world no longer makes sense or feels safe.
Traditional grief support alone often isn't enough here, because part of what you're carrying is trauma, which can alter the sense of meaning for your world.
How we work together…
An approach built for trauma and grief together…
My work in this area is grounded in the traumatic bereavement treatment model developed by Dr. Laurie Anne Pearlman and colleagues — one of the few frameworks built specifically for sudden, violent, or unexpected loss. It weaves trauma-focused strategies like mindfulness/EMDR techniques and Cognitive Processing Therapy together with grief-specific work, helping you process intrusive memories and a shattered sense of safety while also making space to mourn the person you lost.
We'll move at a pace that respects both sides of what you're carrying, rather than rushing past one to get to the other.
This mix of grief and trauma is familiar to me…
I bring both my trauma training — including Cognitive Processing Therapy, mindfulness/somatic/EMDR techniques, and Trauma-Focused CBT — and my own experience of profound and traumatic loss to this work. Traumatic grief asks for more than time alone; it asks for an approach built specifically for what you're carrying. I'd be honored to walk through that with you.