Grief Counseling
Grief Counseling is highly beneficial and often not thought of as a useful tool when someone is facing the loss of someone close to them. You feel alone, isolated and that nobody can relate to the things you are feeling. This is the time that you need to surround yourself with support and those that love and care for you. We are so programmed and conditioned in society to think we have to “go it alone”. What a harsh way to view life. There is love and guidance around you always.
Bereavement is the recovery of loss or death of the loved one. The method of the loss is called grief. There is deep anger and sadness associated. The actual process of loss and adjusting your life after someone passes is very dramatic and differs from one to another. No two people grieve the same. Much depends on your internal belief systems, your upbringing, your own personal thoughts around what death means to you and much more.
Grief Counseling
Thoughts and Behaviors
When one grieves they find feelings of guilt, anger, resentment, deep sadness, yearning and loneliness to name a few. People will feel they have lost their purpose and that life has no meaning. On the other hand one may find feelings of relief. Emotions tend to surprise us in their intensity. It can be overwhelming and confusing. This is where grief counseling can be useful.
Thoughts can vary form one minute to the next. You may think there was nothing that could have been done to prevent the loss and then 5 minutes later your telling yourself that it was all your fault. The grieving behaviors associated can swing from moments of uncontrollable crying to then laughter. You may feel the need to soothe yourself through sleep, over or under-eating, cleaning constantly or drinking your sorrows away. Some will tend to long for the comfort of another while others want to be left alone and isolate. The important part is to understand that grief is a natural process and there are stages and ways to get through it that are healthy.
Grief Counseling
The Process of Healing
Everybody grieves differently. The time and form in which they grieve is unique to them. Some may find themselves bouncing back after six months. Others may feel waves of grief for many years later the loss. Some will take a year or several years. They are seeking to find themselves unable to move through and on with their life. Depression is the most common mental health condition stemming from grief.
Adjusting after loss is the biggest challenge. Loss can be the ending of a relationship, the death of a pet, loss of your dream job or goals. It does not always come in the form of a physical person dying. You must learn new routines. You will plan and create a new vision for your future. A new identity of yourself can spring to life. It rocks us to the core. If willing you can start to explore the greatest question of life, Who Am I?
- Out of the Darkness: Three Steps to Emotional Healing
- Breathing Lessons for Coping with Grief
- Creating Rituals to Move Through Grief
Grief Counseling
Seeking The Help You Need Today
Seeking out a qualified mental health counselor may be just the thing you need. You will learn how to get to the root of the underlying stress and grief. Your shifting will change and your conditioning around the story you make up about what it means to lose someone or something will change. Relaxation techniques, awareness and mindfulness are a large part of the counseling process.
Both individual therapy and group therapy are helpful and go hand in hand. You will find a community of other people you can relate to and share with. Also family therapy is helpful to get the entire family to move in the same direction and work through the process of loss. Whatever you decide please do not isolate. There is help out there. Call today.
