The Many Sides of Loss: Trauma and Grief with Dr Frank Anderson

About the event

How does trauma shape the way we grieve? And what happens when loss activates parts of us that feel overwhelmed, stuck or unseen?

In this conversation, psychiatrist and trauma specialist Dr Frank Anderson joins Dr Lesel Dawson, Good Grief Festival Co-Director, to explore the relationship between grief and trauma. Drawing on his clinical practice, research and lived experience as a trauma survivor, he introduces the idea that we all have different ‘parts’: some protect us, some hold pain, and some carry burdens from earlier experiences. When bereavement reopens old wounds, these parts can become louder or more extreme as they try to keep us safe.

The session shares a practical, compassionate framework for meeting grief with curiosity rather than self-judgement. It suggests that understanding our past can help us recognise what is being triggered, soften inner conflict, and find steadier ground, not by bypassing the pain, but by learning how to be with it.