Grief Counseling

It’s important to understand that normal grief is a process, it takes time to heal. We also never really “get over” a loss, we just move through it to a place of acceptance and develop coping skills along the way. Just as the body takes time to heal a physical wound, our psyche heals through grieving. The grief process is not linear, but more often experienced in cycles.

Grief can be compared to climbing a spiral staircase where things look and feel as if you are going in circles, yet you are actually making progress.

Dealing with funeral arrangements after the loss of a loved one is hard. Oftentimes, however you are still in shock. Once the funeral is over and friends and family are gone, the pain of grief emerges.

Five stages of grief have been identified (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance), but not everyone goes through each of those stages of grief and that’s ok! We each heal in our own way.

Factors that can complicate grief include denying or pushing down painful feelings, alcohol and drug use to cope, or not having an outlet for support of what you are actually feeling. Participating in counseling for grief and loss can help you move forward.

We can support you in finding positive ways to cope with grief, and will strive to help you find the best way for YOU to adjust to life after your loss. We want to help you find peace and healing. Coping with loss is possible and your symptoms associated with grief will fade over time.

If you’re feeling stuck in intense and painful emotions, you may need to acknowledge that your loss was significant. There are many types of losses beyond death that can trigger the grief response. Grief and loss counseling may benefit you if you are experiencing ANY type of loss.

Coping with loss can be hard to do on your own when overwhelmed by difficult emotions. A mental health professional can help you deal with grief your own way with skill and support.

Types of losses:

• Death of a loved one
• Ending of an important relationship
• Loss of a relationship with a parent through divorce
• Infertility/Miscarriage
• Feelings of loss for a friend that moved away
• Loss of job/career
• Physical impairment, loss of health, physical stamina; chronic illness
• Serious illness of a loved one
• Damaged reputation
• Loss of a pet
• Not being able to return to school, friends, family, work
• Recognizing that life dreams will not be realized
• Major life change
• Life transitions
• Traumatic loss or traumatic stress
• Chronic pain

We will all go through grief, loss and bereavement at some point in our lives. Some people experience complicated grief after a significant loss.

If you have lost someone and have been struggling with symptoms such as avoidance of reminders of the loss, excessive worry or thoughts about the person you lost, and feelings of intense pain, which has persisted for a long period of time, you may have complicated grief. Other symptoms include intense yearning for the person or a sense of loss of meaning or purpose without the person in your life.

Some people experiencing complicated grief have also had suicidal thoughts. (If you or someone you love has had thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24-7 at 1-800-273-8255.

Prolonged grief can make it challenging to live your daily life. If you are feeling stuck in this deep pain, know that help is available.

A death that occurs without warning or in a traumatic way is a traumatic loss. Examples are homicide, suicide, war, natural disaster, covid-19, and accidents. For some, a traumatic loss can lead to traumatic grief. This is grief that develops into other mental health conditions such as ptsd, severe depression, or disabling grief. 

If you've experienced this type of loss, your therapist will start with a trauma-focused treatment approach to help your systems stabilize so you can start to feel like yourself again. 

Yes, children experience grief in their own way. It’s important to provide a safe space for children to process their grief and losses.

Children commonly experience many types of losses besides the loss of a loved one. The loss of a pet, loss of a friend from moving homes, cities, or schools, loss due to health or medical changes, loss of a familiar family structure through divorce and the loss of safety and security after a natural disaster.

Children process emotion and express themselves through play, not necessarily verbally like adults. Art therapy and play therapy are common techniques used in grief counseling and therapy to help children move through and resolve their grief. After a loved ones death, creating a memory book for example, can help children move through grief and integrate their memories, both positive and negative. Family therapy is also often part of grief therapy for children.

The heavy weight of loss and bereavement can make it difficult to reach out for help. To increase accessibility and convenience, our licensed therapists also provide online grief counseling. Grief therapy can be conducted through video sessions using our secure and confidential video conferencing platform.