Unravelling traumatic grief

The Road Trauma Support Team Victoria (RTSTV) provides support & counselling to people affected by road trauma. This includes bereaved family members, friends & colleagues, injured people & their carers, drivers, witnesses, people first on the scene & others. RTSTV counsellors work with issues of trauma & grief. The service model focuses on normalization & non-pathologising. We use a client-centred approach that seeks to enable clients to re-engage with community & everyday life through the medium of being able to 'tell their story'. Volunteer-based support provided through one-one contact & support groups is another key feature of the RTSTV model.

This presentation will give an overview of the different facets of RTSTV client work, along with observations from counselling practice. Areas for consideration include: the intermingling of trauma and grief and the counselling process of unravelling these related yet disparate aspects; recurrent trauma, Is there a way out?; the journey of grief for parents and families - does it ever end?; sudden loss; negotiating coronial and court processes; support through grief & trauma, what helps and what does not, and finally what our clients have to say.