Living With Traumatic Loss
From compounded grief to acceptance
Born into unfathomable circumstances of neglect and abuse that spanned the entirety of a lost childhood and subsequent misfortunes that unavoidably followed, made it clear from the onset that tangible and intangible loss would be an interminable presence in my life. Like all folks beset by complex trauma, I was fated to navigate a bleak landscape of profound and diverse types of loss, which extended well beyond the obvious.
While tangible losses are concrete and measurable, such as the death of a loved one, leaving behind a residence, a job or an academic pursuit, intangible losses, such as loss of purpose, loss of innocence and loss of hope, are abstract and affect the non-physical aspects of life.
Both types of losses have significant impacts, but I’ve discovered as a survivor and a complex trauma clinician of over thirty years, that intangible losses require multifaceted intentional strategies to assist with acquiring clarity and coping, as its elusive, invisible and deeply personal nature challenges one to validate its significance and remain steadfast with traversing a healing process that can often feel ambiguous and endless.
To elucidate, mourning the absence of safety and love, coupled with the blatant and ambient violence of my early home life meant…
