I recently interviewed Dr. Cristi Bundukamara, founder of the Mentally STRONG Clinic in Colorado Springs, CO. Many people consider Cristi, a.k.a. Dr. B, to be a grief expert. Besides her background as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, she’s also had a lot of experience dealing with grief personally. In fact, her family has been rocked by loss time and time again. It started when one of her adopted children passed away in a drowning accident. This loss was devastating and was followed by a medical diagnosis that impacted three of her family members (her husband and two biological children). DRPLA is an autosomal dominant spinocerebellar degenerative condition that was inherited by them. Over the past 10 years, she has lost all three to the disease.
These losses have been excruciating for Cristi. It is a wonder that she is still able to function after them, but she has not only been able to move forward but has helped many others as well. Cristi taught herself how to actively grieve and spent countless hours building her mental strength. She has been able to pass that knowledge on so that others could benefit. Cristi developed The Mentally STRONG Method which enables people to gain mental strength by learning to Think, Organize and Choose, taking control of their thoughts and actions. To that end, she’s supported thousands of people through her work. She has also developed numerous materials to help those going through loss including a workbook related to learning how to actively grieve.
When I sat down with her for my TV show, she talked about many aspects of loss; grief is not just limited to the loss of a loved one. It can also apply to trauma, injustice, losses in your personal life, or losses related to business. Cristi tries to help people feel stronger and become more comfortable with confronting loss. We were also able to talk about her journey as an entrepreneur, and how loss and entrepreneurship can often go hand in hand.
Cristi gave a lot of tips and practical advice related to learning how to find purpose after pain, and how you can shift your thinking from negative to positive. Additionally, she offered insight into how to actively grieve losses without letting them impact your self-identity and outlook on failure.
Her knowledge and experience are very inspirational and not just for those who are experiencing grief in the traditional sense. You can learn more by watching the full episode here. Enjoy.