Grief and Loss Therapy
Are you trying to figure out how to deal with a loss? Perhaps someone close to you has passed away, whether that be a relative, friend, or pet. Alternatively, you may have been diagnosed with a serious illness, or you might have experienced a career or business failure.
Have you recently become pregnant, experienced the death of a child, or experienced fertility problems? If so, you may be grieving the loss of the future you’d imagined for yourself. If you’ve lost a family member, perhaps due to death or divorce, you may be wondering who you are now that you are no longer a caretaker, husband, or wife.
Are you experiencing an overwhelming array of emotions? You may move back and forth between feelings of sadness, anger, fear, depression, and hopelessness. If you’ve had feelings of relief or resentment in the wake of your loss, you may also be feeling guilty on top of everything else.
Are you feeling exhausted and disconnected? Your day-to-day responsibilities and the goings-on of those you interact with may feel mundane and irrelevant to what you’re going through. Others may feel uncomfortable around you or even begin to treat you differently. As a result, you may be drawing away from the people and activities you used to enjoy, isolating you in your grief.
But you are not alone, even if you’re feeling isolated right now. Many people have made it through situations like yours and found peace and even happiness.
Grief And Loss Are Part Of Life
No other experience cuts more deeply into us than loss, affecting us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Unfortunately, the experience of grief is just as inevitable; at some point or another, everyone loses someone or something that was dearly important to them.
Friends and loved ones, despite their good intentions, may be ill-equipped to help you in your grief. For example, if someone close to you has died of cancer, you may suddenly be inundated with other people’s cancer stories, which can be extremely re-traumatizing. The platitudes people may offer you—such as the familiar “They’re better off now,” or “You’re never given more than you can handle”—often hurt more than they help.
Our culture, which suffers from a general discomfort with loss, may encourage you to hurry through your grief. This “pull yourself up by your bootstraps and move on” mentality even shows up in our institutional policies. In American companies, for example, bereavement leave is extremely short, “usually limited to a few days (for example, three paid days for immediate family members and one paid day for other relatives),” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Grief is extremely individual in nature, so the best way to learn how to deal with loss is by finding what works best for you. If you don’t know where to start, or would like some help along the way, grief counseling is a great option.
Find Peace With Grief Counseling At Live Your Knowing
It is extremely important to have help during the grieving process. Unfortunately, though, helping others to feel supported in their grief is a lost art in our culture. If your loved ones aren’t able to provide the level of support you need, I can offer you comfort and reassurance that will allow you to find a sense of peace with your loss.
Your past experiences, life situation, brain chemistry, spiritual beliefs, and many other factors will shape how you experience grief. While each person’s experience of grief is different, I’ll help you to understand the grieving process and what you might expect. If you’ve experienced painful losses in the past, we’ll explore whether that grief has been resolved and how it may be influencing your current state. We’ll explore therapeutic techniques to find what may be most helpful for you.
Based on your unique situation, we’ll brainstorm self-care activities and coping strategies to help you weather the storm of your grief with greater resiliency. During our grief therapy sessions, I might suggest physical practices such as yoga or walking to help restore your energy levels and give you relief from sadness and depression. To help you express your thoughts and feelings, I might recommend journaling exercises, a ritual, or artistic outlets.
As part of your grief counseling, I’ll teach you strategies for cultivating emotional awareness—such as body scans, labeling emotions, meditation and breathing exercises—to help you pace out emotional experiences. For example, if spending hours going through your lost loved one’s possessions sends you emotionally over the edge, I might encourage you to spend just a few minutes on it before switching to something restorative, like a walk in nature or watching a light-hearted show.
When you’re deep in grief, the pain and sadness can be overwhelming. With my help, you can spend less time stuck in the painful parts of loss and more time recollecting fond memories. We will work to build a peaceful relationship with what has been lost and with time, you may even begin to recognize your grief as an opportunity for self-realization and positive change.
As you consider grief counseling, you might be thinking. . .
Time heals all wounds, right? So, can’t I just wait this out?
Time may heal all wounds, but it may not heal them well. If you broke your leg, you might be able to heal without help from a doctor, but you might limp for the rest of your life (or be unable to walk at all). Similarly, grieving without professional help can leave emotional scars that may last a lifetime. Some people view therapy as a luxury, but if ever there were a time in your life to seek support, the aftermath of life-changing loss is the time. You deserve to be cared for and comforted through your pain.
Won’t talking about my loss just make me sadder?
Most people are relieved when they realize they can talk about the feelings related to grief in a safe, non-judgmental space. That said, your sadness is far from only thing we’ll focus on in our grief therapy sessions. I’ll encourage you to look back on what you’ve lost with fondness, love, and even a sense of humor when that feels right. Dealing with loss can be bittersweet. We won’t dwell on your sorrow—I’ll help you to understand it better so that you can experience it from a place of kindness, compassion, and self-love. Even though you may feel overwhelmed by your feelings, the tools developed in therapy can help you successfully process your grief and feel supported.
Can I still come see you even if my grief isn’t due to a person’s death?
Of course! Painful losses result from many things besides human relationships. The loss of a pet, for example, can create powerful sadness. Things like the loss of a job or the experience of having children leave home also need to be acknowledged and grieved. Intangible setbacks such as a loss of a dream or something you always thought would happen can also pose challenges. No matter what sort of loss you’ve experienced (and no matter how long ago), your loss deserves to be recognized, validated, and supported.
Grief Therapy Is Not An Indulgence
I’m deeply saddened by our culture’s inability to accommodate the grief and loss that are a part of life. There is no wrong way to experience grief and no fixed timeline. And you don’t have to go through it alone. Grief therapy can introduce you to a kinder, more self-loving way of experiencing grief and provide support and encouragement when you need it most.
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation today to help you find out whether grief counseling is a good option for you. For an appointment or questions, call or text (720) 984-9575 or visit our contact page . You can also click the button below to schedule online.