Multiple lacerations of the heart: When grief accumulates

The idea of multiple lacerations of the heart is both personally and professionally a topic of great interest to us. Experience has taught us that far too many counselors fail to account for the aggravated condition of the heart as a result of multiple losses. The lure of the immediate loss or trauma from childhood can hinder one’s ability to consider the amassed emotional cholesterol. As system thinkers advocate, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Subsequently, counselors need to be aware of how multiple losses accumulate and how such build-up manifests itself in a client’s life. In this article, we hope to acquaint readers with a cursory understanding of the mechanisms of emotional cholesterol and treatment of this malady which we will refer to as therapeutic angioplasty.