COLORADO SPRINGS — Over the last twenty years, Navy veteran Cristi Bundukamara has experienced unimaginable heartbreak: the loss of three children and her husband. Her Husband and two of her children died from the same disorder, and the third drowned.
Cristi is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. After experiencing such terrible loss and finding her way through to the other side of grief, she decided the best path forward was using her experience to help others. So, she created a program called Mentally Strong.
"We are creating the grief intensive where we are taking all the things that I learned about somatic release and separating the grief and the trauma. And we're bringing people in for a one-week program where they will come in. It will be both medical, educational, and therapeutic," she said.
She tells us that separating grief and trauma is crucial.
"Even when it's the same experience, you need to process the trauma because when you think about traumatic grief as something you have to let go of, and this is someone you love, you're not going to let go of it. Ever," she said.
She tells News5 that showing up for ourselves and each other during the dark times creates a stronger and more resilient community.
Call 988 if you are experiencing a mental health crisis
For more mental health resources, click here.
Watch the full story above to hear more from Cristi and her journey.
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