How Grief Counseling Can Help When You’ve Suffered a Loss
For many of us, the past year has definitely brought its share of grief and loss. But grief and loss are a natural part of life…
And at some point in our lives, we all experience a loss that is particularly difficult to deal with. The loss may be the death of a family member, friend, or pet, or the loss of something very important to us, such as a job, house, or family heirloom.
Regardless of the specifics, grief, bereavement, and mourning are healthy, natural reactions to any significant loss. The grief process provides us with a means of acknowledging our loss and functions as an outlet for what are often extremely difficult and complex emotions.
While the process of grieving takes time – often several weeks to several months – if you or someone you know finds that the grief just won’t seem to go away, or that it worsens over time, professional assistance may be required. Fortunately, help is available in the form of professional grief counseling, support, and therapy.
The Personal Nature of Grief
Grief is a very personal and individual experience that involves a wide array of feelings and emotions from shock and denial, to loneliness, anger, guilt, and sorrow.
It is often said that some deaths are easier to accept than others. For example, someone might mourn the loss of a job while another may instantly view the same loss as an opportunity. Likewise, for some the death of a 90-year-old may be easier to handle than the death of someone who was only 20. For others, this distinction may be meaningless or even reversed. All of this is to say that how we view death and deal with any loss is specific to our own relationship with our loss and how we deal with grief.
Although grieving may be a personal process, this doesn’t mean it’s something you should keep to yourself or go through alone. In fact it is healthy, and even necessary, to share our grief with others.
If you’re currently grieving, you need to find someone with whom to share your feelings. This person can be a friend, family member, or a professional grief counselor.
The Benefits of Grief Counseling
Professional grief counseling is intended to help people who have extremely serious problems dealing with grief or those who lack a support network to help them work through their grief and loss.
If either of these apply to you or someone you know, grief therapy should be sought as soon as possible. Left unaddressed, all grief can turn into severe depression and result in other psychological disorders.
Death can trigger a host of different emotions, some of which we rarely encounter, and the process of grieving can manifest itself in a wide variety of ways. You may experience physical and behavioral symptoms, such as sleeplessness, moodiness, drastic swings in appetite, depression, or emotional outbursts of sadness, guilt, or anger. All of these are normal parts of the grief process and should be embraced as an acceptable part of remembering and coming to terms with your loss.
Grief counseling can help you explore your emotions, come to a better understanding of yourself and your relationship with the person you’ve lost, as well as cope with whatever symptoms you may be experiencing and minimize the impact they have on your personal and professional relationships.
Regardless of whether grief counseling takes the form of a grief support group or individual therapy, a therapist who specializes in helping people who’ve suffered a loss can provide you the understanding and support you need to cope with, and navigate, the process of integrating the loss into your life.
Grief counseling is never about forgetting or minimizing your loss. Grief counseling is about helping you recover a sense of purpose, find inner peace, and rediscover joy in life that honors the memory of the one you lost while allowing you to move forward with confidence and optimism.
If you have any questions regarding this article, or if I may be of any other assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 510-735-8868 or email me at scott@beyondwordspsychotherapy.com. I look forward to speaking with you and helping you create a life you truly love living!