Hospice Foundation Of America - Press Release View

Press Release

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For Immediate Release: April 4, 2022
Contact: Managing Editor Lisa Veglahn, lveglahn@hospicefoundation.org

New Book Examines the Realities and Challenges of Trauma and Bereavement for Those Who are Grieving and Those Who Support Them

When you find yourself in the middle of a life-altering, traumatic event such as losing a loved one suddenly, you cannot imagine what the future holds, let alone how you will survive the days and weeks to come.
-- Carla Stumpf Patton, author; survivor; Senior Director, Postvention Programs, TAPS

Washington – Hospice Foundation of America (HFA) today announced the publication of Shattered: Trauma and Grief, an important volume written by and for healthcare and grief professionals. The book includes chapters from experts in traumatic loss as well as first-person accounts of healthcare and grief professionals’ own trauma and loss.

“This book includes essential guidance for the clinician, counselor, or clergy as to how to support and stabilize those of us who are caregivers from the inherent bewilderment of traumatic loss, like the bewilderment I experienced long ago after my wife’s suicide,” writes Ted Rynearson, renowned pioneer in the field of traumatic grief and posttraumatic growth.

Edited by noted grief expert Kenneth J. Doka, HFA Sr. Vice President for Grief Programs, and HFA President and CEO Amy S. Tucci, the book examines a wide range of subjects, including relational trauma, effective support for the traumatic experiences of family members of intensive care unit patients, and treating traumatic grief after violent death.

Other chapters examine:

homicide and traumatic loss in Black America
the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on grief and effective treatment strategies
how best to support those coping with deaths from suicide and overdose
community response to traumatic events, such as mass shootings
trauma and grief in children and adolescents
trauma-informed grief counseling
hospice and palliative care’s critical role in supporting those facing traumatic loss
and vicarious traumatization.

The book’s impressive authors are well-known authorities: Therese A. Rando, William Feigelman, Robert A. Neimeyer, Jillian M. Blueford, William G. Hoy, Jocelyn R. Smith Lee, William E. Rosa, Carla Cheatham, Pamela Gabbay, Andy McNiel, Holly Prigerson, Wendy Lichtenthal, Marica Lattanzi Licht, and many more.

Available now, the book is part of HFA’s ongoing educational initiative to increase awareness of grief warning signs and grief complications resulting from traumatic loss. Shattered: Trauma and Grief is available to order on HFA’s website by calling 800-854-3402.

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