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“Purchasing the book allows the practitioner access to a companion website containing the session planner and over 30 handouts, several of which I have used in my practice. For instance, a recent suicide survivor found the supplemental handout on ‘Getting through the Holidays’ very helpful. I valued being able to give the client something to take away with her over the difficult Thanksgiving holiday....Each chapter begins with a clinical vignette illustrating the challenges of developing an appropriate treatment approach. These were helpful in setting up the chapter’s focus and I think they would be especially valuable to beginning trauma therapists....I highly recommend this book and will add it to my required reading list for graduate students studying traumatic bereavement. I plan to refer to this book and its accompanying handouts regularly in my private practice.”

—Trauma Psychology, APA Division 56


“The authors provide important conceptual and clinical guidance, illuminating the passage to recovery and health in a way that few others have done. Impressive in its thoughtfulness as well as its comprehensiveness, this is a vital book for all clinicians—we will all find ourselves at some time or another confronting the needs and complicated care of those dealing with massive trauma and loss. This book fills a void in the literature.”

—Terence M. Keane, PhD, National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, and Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine


“Once every decade a clinical handbook is published that singlehandedly promises to revolutionize the field of grief therapy. With its laser-like focus on the pervasive problem of sudden, violent, and inherently tragic death, Treating Traumatic Bereavement is that book for the current decade. Written with compelling consistency by a 'dream team' of consummate clinical scholars, this volume offers a masterful integration of cogent research, leavened by carefully cultivated psychotherapeutic acumen. The resulting manual is riveting reading and is quite simply the best resource available to those of us who work alongside mourners to reconstruct a world transformed by trauma and loss.”

—Robert A. Neimeyer, PhD, editor of Death Studies and Techniques of Grief Therapy


“Kudos to the authors for bringing their intellectual gravitas and extensive clinical experience to bear on a much-neglected area. The sudden, unexpected death of a loved one is the most common traumatic event and is often identified by survivors as their worst life event. This book provides an accessible roadmap for clinicians working with traumatically bereaved clients on their journey to find a life worth living in the aftermath of devastating loss. With its rich case examples and easy-to-use handouts, this is an invaluable resource for experienced clinicians and clinicians-in-training.”

—Karestan C. Koenen, PhD, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital


“I've been waiting a long time for a comprehensive book on this topic Treating Traumatic Bereavement makes it worth the wait. The authors clearly explain the traumatic nature of sudden loss and the additional burden it places on the bereaved. The book beautifully integrates the authors' individual areas of expertise to advance and enrich the fields of traumatic stress and bereavement studies. The treatment model is both theoretically and empirically based, and the handouts provided in the book and at the companion website will greatly assist clinicians in faithfully applying the model. A major contribution!”

—Christine A. Courtois, PhD, ABPP, private practice (retired), Washington, DC; consultant and trainer, trauma psychology and treatment, Bethany Beach, Delaware


“This book needs to be in the library of every therapist who takes on the difficult challenges of working with the traumatically bereaved. Rich with clinical wisdom and evidence-based practices, Treating Traumatic Bereavement provides a coherent and systematic treatment approach. It is theoretically sophisticated yet eminently and immediately useful to practicing clinicians. You will find yourself using this practical, compassionate book again and again in your professional journey with those who are grieving the most distressing of human losses.”

—John R. Jordan, PhD, private practice, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and Wellesley, Massachusetts

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Table of Contents

I. Fundamentals of Traumatic Bereavement

1. Sudden, Traumatic Death and Traumatic Bereavement

2. Theoretical Foundations

II. Living with Traumatic Bereavement

3. Psychological Dimensions

4. Domains of Life Affected

III. Risk Factors and Related Evidence

5. Event-Related Factors

6. Person-Related Factors

7. Treatment Research

IV. Guidelines for Implementing the Treatment Approach

8. Client Assessment

9. Implementation Issues

10. Building Resources

11. Processing Trauma

12. Facilitating Mourning

V. Challenges in Implementing the Treatment Approach

13. Treatment Challenges

14. Effects of the Treatment on Therapists

Appendix. Handouts

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About the Authors

Laurie Anne Pearlman, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and independent trauma consultant based in western Massachusetts. She is a Fellow of Division 56 (Trauma Psychology) of the American Psychological Association (APA) and of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Dr. Pearlman has received awards for her clinical and/or scientific contributions from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the Connecticut Psychological Association, and APA Division 56, including the Division's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. She has authored or coauthored several books on psychological trauma.

• All titles by Laurie Anne Pearlman

Camille B. Wortman, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Stony Brook University in New York. Her research focuses on how people react to the sudden, traumatic death of a loved one. She is a recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution in Psychology from the APA, and a joint award from the APA Science Directorate and the National Science Foundation recognizing the achievements of women in science. She has authored four books and over 100 articles and book chapters.

• Author's website

Catherine A. Feuer, PhD, is a cognitive-behavioral psychologist in private practice in St. Louis, Missouri. Her clinical work, research, and publications are in the areas of anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder. She was formerly a postdoctoral fellow and Assistant Research Professor at the Center for Trauma Recovery at the University of Missouri, St. Louis. In her private practice, she treats trauma clients, including survivors of sudden, traumatic loss.

Christine H. Farber, PhD, is a clinical psychologist based in central Connecticut, where she practices psychological consultation informed by her interests in archetypal and humanistic psychology. She is Adjunct Professor at the University of Hartford's Graduate Institute in Professional Psychology and serves on the board of directors of the Connecticut Psychological Association, which has honored her with numerous awards.

Therese A. Rando, PhD, is Clinical Director of The Institute for the Study and Treatment of Loss in Warwick, Rhode Island, which provides psychotherapy, training, supervision, and consultation. She is a diplomate of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress and Board Certified in Bereavement Trauma). A recipient of numerous professional awards, she is the author of over 80 works, including How To Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies, Treatment of Complicated Mourning, and Coping With the Sudden Death of Your Loved One: A Self-Help Handbook for Traumatic Bereavement.

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Audience

Clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists, mental health counselors, couple and family therapists, and pastoral counselors.

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Course Use

May serve as a supplemental text in graduate-level courses.