Grief and Loss Counseling

Grief, loss, and death are an inescapable part of our human experience.

All of us experience these things differently in our own unique way.

No matter where we are in our lives, when we experience a significant loss, we enter into an extremely vulnerable place that can reverberate throughout our entire being: physically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually. Grief and loss can affect our ability to cope with other life events and can affect how we adapt to life around us.

Grief is the emotional reaction to a loss.

It is normal to experience deep sadness after losing someone close to us, a pet, leaving a place, job, or situation that is a valued part of our lives. Grief can begin before a loss occurs, which is called anticipatory grief. This is common when a loved one is ill or eldery and death is unavoidable and on the horizon.

Oftentimes people consider the death of someone close to us to be the only kind of grief that can truly affect us. While this can be an intense loss, the fact that this is the only grief that can affect us is not accurate. The loss of a beloved pet can also have significant effects on our entire being.

Other losses may include a loss of security (such as an illness, loss of ability, or loss of strength), the loss of a life dream (not being married, not having children, other expectations), the loss of a coping strategy (eating behaviors, alcohol, gambling, other behaviors), the loss of one’s possessions, infertility, a miscarriage or stillbirth, a disability, a natural disaster, job, relationship, freedom, learning a family member is abusing alcohol or drugs, and many others.

One facet of grief and loss that is important to recognize is the fact that we each need our own time to heal.

One person may “get over” a loss more quickly than another. It is important to not push someone into healing when they are not ready to. This is where I can help. Grieving in an essential part to healing a loss. There are many ways in which I can help you navigate your grief and loss in a gentle way, honoring your mourning process, that allows you to heal on your own time. In prolonged or complicated grief situations, therapy can help to ground you in something that feels bottomless.

There are specialized techniques that I use that can help you move in a healthy and timely way forward, so that grief and loss doesn’t manifest into something like a somatic or behavioral symptom, or an exaggerated emotional response that could make life even more difficult. This is known as complex grief which can lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. It can also lead to negative coping skills such as substance use, overeating, and other behaviors.

Grief may also show up during major life changes that are positive such as with getting married, the birth of a child, retirement, aging, moving out of the house, starting school, or other circumstances.

Grief also can occur near or on anniversaries of a major loss. It is very important to address grief as it comes up so it doesn’t impact other areas of your life.

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
~ Khalil Gibran

Grief and loss counseling helps you work through your loss.

During counseling you will come to understand the five stages of grief and learn new ways to heal. Some symptoms of grief include:

Reach out and I will be happy talk more with you about how I can help you move through a loss »