QC: Trauma vs Grief: Finding Clarity

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Licensed therapist Shawn Whitney explains how our bodies experience trauma and grief in similar ways, making it difficult to differentiate between them when navigating chronic illness. The most important aspect of healing is acknowledging the true significance of our experiences rather than minimizing them, as treatment approaches for both trauma and grief focus on validating impact rather than categorizing emotions.

• Our bodies experience trauma and grief similarly with little physiological differentiation
• Trauma impacts us emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, relationally and sexually
• Effective trauma treatment is also effective grief and loss treatment
• Cultural messages often minimize our experiences with phrases like "you'll get over it"
• Healing begins by acknowledging the significance and true impact of our experiences
• Language and identification have value, but impact matters more than categorization

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Life moves fast and so should the answers to your
biggest questions.
Welcome to EndoBattery's QuickConnect, your direct line to
expert insights.
Short, powerful and right tothe point.
You send in the questions, Ibring in the experts and in just
five minutes you get theknowledge you need.
No long episodes, no extra timeneeded, and just remember

(00:20):
expert opinions shared here arefor general information and not
for personalized medical advice.
Always consult your providerfor your case-specific guidance.
Got a question?
Send it in and let's quicklyget you the answers.
I'm your host, alana, and it'stime to connect Today.
I'm honored to welcome SeanWhitney, a licensed therapist

(00:42):
and founder of RestorationFamily Therapy.
To welcome Sean Whitney, alicensed therapist and founder
of Restoration Family Therapy.
Sean specializes intrauma-informed care and
supports individuals andfamilies navigating the complex
emotional toll of chronicillness.
His compassionate approachhelps clients process past
wounds, build resilience andfind connection in the midst of
physical and emotional pain.
Whether it's coping withmedical trauma, managing the

(01:04):
stress of a long-term diagnosisor healing relational strain
caused by illness, sean providesa safe space for restoration
and growth.
Let's get into this For a lot ofus with endometriosis,
adenomyosis, PCOS, reallygenerally women's health which
is although we knowendometriosis is not a

(01:25):
reproductive issue, women'shealth in general, which it
largely affects cis women wereally struggle with.
Okay, we've had trauma, thecare is not there that we need.
So we are not only dealing withthe grief of what we wish we
would have had or this continuesto hit us, but then we're
dealing with the trauma of whatwe wish we would have had or
this continues to hit us, butthen we're dealing with the

(01:47):
trauma of that.
How do we differentiate betweentrauma and grief?

Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's a lovely question, and it's one that I
have a lot of conversation withmy staff at CSU who run our
trauma center.
So we do a variety of things,including trauma assessments and
even trauma treatment, and oneof the things that we continue
to come back to is how do wedifferentiate what's actually

(02:13):
going on for us in our lives?
Because trauma is one of thosethings that impacts the entire
person yeah, emotionally,psychologically, spiritually,
relationally, sexually, you nameit right.
It impacts us on all levels, andgrief can as well, which makes
that differentiation even muchmore difficult for us to make

(02:36):
right, and so I often will sayit's something that we need to
pay attention to and maybe intime we'll get some clarity
about what it actually is for us.
But the truth of the matter isour body experiences trauma and
grief very similarly.
There's not muchdifferentiation that our mind,

(02:56):
or that our body, or even oursoul, for that matter, can make
between what is grief and lossand what is trauma.
Right, because they presentvery similarly.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
When you're addressing the two, do you
dissect that or do you treat itand address it unilaterally?

Speaker 2 (03:19):
Good question.
I think it's more the latterthan the former, although I will
say that there is value inlanguage.
There is value in trying toidentify and dissect, as you're
talking about, what is thisthing that I'm dealing with in
my life?
And yet, effective traumatreatment is also effective

(03:46):
grief and loss treatment.
It's acknowledging what is assignificant, and that's a really
important piece, right, becauseculture, maybe even my partner,
my parents, you name it,somebody significant in my life
or very strong themes andmessages that I've been
bombarded with in my life, tellme otherwise, oh, you'll get

(04:10):
over it, or it's just a bad day.
Tomorrow's coming and so muchof what we hear minimizes our
experience.
And so so much of whattreatment is about is
acknowledging its truesignificance and its true impact
on us.
And so, as we're dissecting ordifferentiating grief and trauma

(04:34):
, while that's an importantexercise, the more important one
in my mind is what is theimpact of this on you?

Speaker 1 (04:42):
Right, and what is the continual impact?

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
If this episode struck a chord with you or
helped you feel seen in any way,I encourage you to check out
episode 62, where Sean shareseven more insight and support.
His approach to healing throughtrauma and chronic illness is
something you won't want to miss.
That's a wrap for this QuickConnect.
I hope today's insights helpedyou move forward with more

(05:07):
clarity and confidence.
Do you have more questions?
Keep them coming, send them inand I'll bring you the expert
answers.
You can send them in by usingthe link in the top of the
description of this podcastepisode or by emailing contact
at endobatterycom or visitingthe endobatterycom contact page.
Until next time, keep feelingempowered through knowledge.