Getting the Support You Need After a Traumatic Loss

Experiencing a traumatic loss can feel overwhelming in ways that are difficult to explain. Afterward, the grief you experience can feel unfathomable, blending emotions like sorrow, anger, fear, and even guilt. Many people find themselves unsure of how to cope or where to turn.

Unlike more anticipated or expected losses, traumatic grief can disrupt your sense of safety and stability. Understanding what you’re experiencing — and knowing help is available — are important first steps toward emotional healing and recovery.

At Conduit Behavioral Health, Temika Heyward, PhD, FNP, CRNP, PMH, and her team offer skilled, compassionate support to people confronting traumatic grief, with a patient-centered approach tailored to each person’s unique needs and experiences. Here’s why professional support is so important for your own recovery and what options we offer that can help.

The far-reaching effects of traumatic loss

Suffering an unexpected loss absolutely affects your emotional balance, but it can have a major effect on your physical health, too. Finding a way to work through your grief and stabilize your emotions helps improve your health and prevent potentially damaging effects involving your heart, your brain, and other aspects of wellness. 

After a traumatic loss, it’s not uncommon to experience intrusive thoughts, nightmares, difficulty concentrating, or heightened anxiety. These reactions can feel alarming, especially if they appear suddenly or interfere with daily activities.

It’s also common for traumatic grief to usher in feelings of isolation. You may feel like others don’t understand the depth or complexity of your pain, especially when loved ones offer well-meaning but often misdirected “help.” This sense of being “different” in grief can make finding support even more difficult. 

Over time, unmanaged grief increases your risk of depression, anxiety disorders, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recognizing the effects of grief — and taking steps to manage them effectively — helps prevent these complications while helping you regain your sense of control and emotional grounding.

The critical role of professional support

While friends and family can offer comfort, professional mental health support plays a unique — and critically important — role in healing after a traumatic loss. In fact, Dr. Heyward is trained in grief and trauma therapy, offering deep, informed insight into both the emotional and physical effects associated with trauma. 

During therapy, you’ll have the tools you need to help you process those effects in a structured, confidential space that supports open, honest communication without fear of judgment or being misunderstood. 

In person or via telehealth, your sessions help you explore thoughts and feelings that may feel too overwhelming to work through on your own, and work through complex, interconnected emotions like guilt or anger, while learning “real-life” coping strategies to help you manage intense emotional reactions.

A therapy plan that works for you

Grief affects different people in vastly different ways, and that means therapy needs to be adaptable, as well. Dr. Heyward offers a variety of options, including individual therapy, group therapy, and medication when needed. Your therapy plan will be tailored to your needs and adjusted over time as those needs change. 

Healing after a traumatic loss does not mean forgetting the past, and seeking help isn’t a sign of weakness or personal failure. Instead, it reflects an understanding that deep loss often requires specialized support to process painful emotions and move forward in ways that support emotional and physical health now and in the future.

If you or someone you love is struggling after a traumatic loss, Dr. Heyward and her team can help. To learn more, request an appointment online or over the phone with Conduit Behavioral Health in Baltimore, Maryland, today.