Art Therapy Workbook for Traumatic Grief & Unexpected Loss: Guided Art Therapy Prompts for Traumatic, Sudden, or Unexpected Loss • Trauma-Informed

Art Therapy Workbook for Traumatic Grief & Unexpected Loss: Guided Art Therapy Prompts for Traumatic, Sudden, or Unexpected Loss • Trauma-Informed

Healing Through Creative Expression After Traumatic, Sudden, or Unexpected Loss Traumatic grief can shatter your sense of safety, identity, and connection in an instant. This trauma-informed art therapy workbook offers a gentle, compassionate space to navigate grief after a loss that was sudden, unexpected, violent, or overwhelming. Designed by Licensed Therapist & Registered Art Therapist Emily Bell, M.A., Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), Registered Art Therapist (ATR), LPCC , this workbook blends mindful art therapy prompts, psychoeducation, grounding skills, and reflective exercises to support your healing at your own pace. Emily’s professional work is deeply shaped by her own lived experience of sudden loss, giving her a unique ability to write with both clinical insight and genuine compassion. She understands firsthand how disorienting, isolating, and life-altering traumatic grief can be — and brings that understanding gently into the pages of this workbook. Her mission is to reduce stigma around grief, increase access to creative arts therapy, and offer supportive tools for people navigating the experiences of losses that are often misunderstood. Whether your loss was recent or years ago, this guided workbook helps you understand traumatic grief, reconnect with yourself, and slowly rebuild a sense of meaning and identity after life has changed in ways you never asked for. If you are looking for art therapy tools for more typical or expected bereavement, Emily also offers a companion workbook focused on traditional grief, healing rituals, and creative expression for loss that unfolds without trauma. Together, the two books support a wide range of grief experiences with warmth, accessibility, and clinical clarity What You’ll Find Inside ✔ Trauma-Informed Psychoeducation Learn the difference between traumatic grief and typical bereavement — without judgment or comparison. ✔ Grounding Exercises & Safety Tools Support your nervous system with gentle regulation skills, sensory grounding, reality-sensing art prompts, and safety check-ins. ✔ Guided Art Therapy Prompts Over 50 creative art prompts designed to help you explore: • identity shifts • reconnection with self • waves of grief • numbness and disconnection • meaning making • memories, values, and legacy • post-traumatic growth No artistic skill required — every prompt is accessible, symbolic, and safe for trauma survivors. ✔ Three Therapeutic Sections Move through grounding, emotional expression, and gentle rebuilding, all in a flexible format you can return to again and again. ✔ Group Facilitator Notes Included Perfect for clinicians, counselors, support groups, treatment centers, and grief groups. Notes are optional — individuals can use this workbook independently. ✔ A Compassionate, Down-to-Earth Voice Written by a therapist with lived experience of traumatic loss, offering validation, warmth, and support every step of the way. Why Art Therapy Helps Traumatic Grief When grief and trauma collide, words are often not enough. This workbook uses art therapy to help you: • express what feels unspeakable • reduce overwhelm • reconnect with your inner world • process emotions safely • explore identity changes • honor the loss Creative expression becomes a bridge between your pain and your healing. 💙 Who This Workbook Is For This book is ideal for: • anyone experiencing traumatic, sudden, or unexpected loss • survivors looking for gentle, somatic creative work • therapists seeking group or individual therapeutic art tools • grief facilitators and support group leaders You don’t need artistic skill — just a willingness to show up as you are.