Trauma and bereaved parents - am I going crazy?

18 July 2022, 16.30 – 17.30

ONLINE via Zoom

You can no longer pre-register for this talk. But please join us anyway if you would like to. The link to access this event this afternoon Monday 18 July at 4.30 pm is:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84163689389?pwd=K0ltOG5TQTAwZytKQ1NoSzY3UXViUT09

Meeting ID: 841 6368 9389
Passcode: 456034

Please join us a few minutes before 4.30 pm so we can start on time. Thankyou.

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The death of our children is heart-wrenching and hugely traumatic. We have had to do the unthinkable in living through our children's death, funeral, burial or cremation, enquiries and the many other circumstances that might have surrounded their death. We mourn the loss of the lives our precious children should have continued to have; we grieve with the aching loss we feel ourselves and, additionally, we may experience helplessness and fear for our remaining children. Not surprising then that we may experience anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks and an overwhelming need to either retreat or keep hugely busy all the time. Whether or not 'diagnosed' with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder the trauma can leave us feeling we are going mad, especially in the early years.

Barbara Douglas writes... "My wonderful sons, Andy and Tim, arrived in 1982 and 1985 respectively. The overwhelming sadness of my life has been the loss of Andy who died suddenly and unexpectedly in June 2011. At 29, his was a short, but very full, life that involved combining his passions for travel, fine food - he was a chef - and climbing some of the world's mountains and volcanoes. In my talk, I will share some of the traumas I experienced on, and following, Andy's death and how I have (sometimes) found ways to manage these. I hope in the process it might open up a few ideas of what might be helpful to you. That by sharing a few thoughts, feelings and ideas about trauma might also be of some help.

Dr Barbara Douglas

In her professional life, Barbara is a Chartered and Registered Counselling Psychologist, Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS), a previous Chair of the BPS Division of Counselling Psychology and Chair of the BPS Representative Council. She has been honoured to have received the British Psychological Society Professional Practice Board's Practitioner of the Year Award. For fifteen years, Barbara worked as clinical director of an eating disorders service before moving into the academic and training sectors. She retired from her position as Registrar for the British Psychological Society's Qualification in Counselling Psychology in 2015 but continues to maintain a small private practice in Edinburgh, where she works with clients who have experienced a range of differing traumas. Barbara co-authored the book Common Presenting Issues in Psychotherapeutic Practice (Sage, 2014) and is Lead Editor for the Handbook of Counselling Psychology (4th ed., 2015), the core training text for counselling psychologists.