Grief Counseling
It is likely that you are here now because you have lost someone you love: a parent, spouse or intimate partner, child, family member, or friend.
Perhaps you are suffering in silence about the kind of loss that is deeply felt but not openly discussed, such as a miscarriage, stillbirth, an important relationship, or the death of a pet.
Because we love deeply, after a loss or death, we grieve deeply. Regardless of its source, that grief is always legitimate.
While your grief will be life-long, the size and shape of it will change over time, as you encounter new experiences and milestones in your life. This is why it is normal to seek grief counseling irrespective of how recently the loss or death occurred.
While no person can take away another's pain, grief counseling can help you figure out how to honor your grief while continuing to fully live your life.
Whether it has been days, weeks, months, or years since the loss occurred, your presence here suggests that you are curious about how to lovingly tend to your grief.
That curiosity is part of your body's natural healing instinct. Its voice comes from the wisest part of you.
Trust yourself in this process.
Grief therapy can be helpful if you are:
feeling like the pain of missing your loved one is making it difficult to keep going.
having difficulty focusing or concentrating.
replaying the last moments of your loved one's life, like a painful movie you can't turn off.
leaning heavily on alcohol, medication, drugs, work, or television just to get through each day.
noticing any physical symptoms such as head, stomach, joint, or muscle pain.
experiencing crying spells that seem to be coming out of the blue.
sleeping or eating too much or too little.
preoccupied with thoughts about illness, death, or suicide.
going through the motions of your daily routine, without much joy or pleasure.
easily irritated, particularly by those who seem unaffected by loss.
worried about alienating others because you're "not over it yet."
regretting the things you 'should have' or 'could have' done differently prior to the loss.
Losing someone we love is one of the hardest challenges we will face. It is also one of the ways in which we can discover how strong and capable we are.
It's okay if you don't believe this right now. Grief or bereavement counseling can help.
"Will I ever feel normal again?"
The loss or death of a partner, family member, child, unborn child, or friend can make it feel as if your world has imploded. If we were to draw a map of bereavement feelings, it would closely resemble the rockiest mountain range: up one moment and down the next!
Grief temporarily changes how our brains and bodies function, making it difficult to do all of the things we associate with the best versions of ourselves. This is why most people say they feel slower, heavier, or that they just don't feel like themselves after a critical loss.
Your loved one was an integral part of your life. Thus, it will take a while--sometimes up to two years--to get accustomed to living without them. Even then, it is normal to feel sad or yearn for the person who died, especially at birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, etc.
Bereavement therapy can help you cope
Because grief hurts so much, many of us are tempted to ignore or avoid it by drinking too much, burying ourselves in work, sleeping too much, or finding other ways to numb our feelings. These behaviors may provide short-term relief but they tend to complicate the grieving process.
The greater our resistance to grief, the more likely we are to behave in ways that don't serve us. We isolate. We lash out. Work performance or social relationships suffer. It doesn't have to be this way.
It is when we are in pain that we are most deserving of support. Working with a qualified therapist or counselor can help you move through grief in a healthy way.
Schedule a free consultation to learn more about how counseling can help you heal.
