ABSTRACT
An astonishing amount of grief is inextricably woven into the developmental trajectories of youth who are commercially sexually exploited. The grief and losses experienced are both death and non-death losses, often numerous and complex. The grief, however, is often not recognized or supported by others. Disenfranchised grief in Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) is distinctly different from other populations due to the degree that victims were, until recently, largely blamed and even criminalized in the courts. Many of these stigmatized, unsupported losses and accompanying grief remain unresolved not only during their developmental years but well into their adult lives at great psychological cost. CSEC and youth often bear the complicated grief resulting from the intersection of trauma and grief which requires close attention to the treatment components of both trauma and grief and especially in the sequencing of treatment interventions. The 2 authors have been engaged for the past 6 years working with youth ranging from 11–21 years, in a residential programme for exploited youth. A developmentally sequenced model will be explained in the larger context of an interpersonal neurobiological-informed treatment model for traumatic grief. The model includes 12 prescriptive tasks to address both the trauma and grief components of the work.
