This session will describe the relationship between trauma and grief and will define grief from a broad perspective. In addition, we will discuss how grief “piles up,” why it’s so misunderstood and how this misunderstanding results in additional physical, mental, and relational consequences. Finally, we will look at ways individuals and communities can better address grief, leading to recovery. All of us are grievers when accepting that grief is about more than just death. Aging itself can be a process that results in grief – as we experience the change in or end of familiar patterns of behavior. LGBTQAI+ individuals – and communities – also often experience the loss of hopes and dreams and expectations for how life will be – or how they will be received by family, friends/society, and the medical/professional community. Both professionals and laypersons who are or who serve the LGBTQAI+ community can benefit from an enhanced understanding of what grief is, why it is so misunderstood, and how grief recovery is possible in both our daily interactions and through our professional systems.