Grief and Loss

Dealing with grief, loss, and bereavement is a normal life process that everyone goes through at various times in life. There are stages of grief that people go through in this process. It can be really helpful when one is in the midst of grieving to have support around the process and to learn about the stages of grief.

What is Grief?

Grief is a natural response to loss. It’s the emotional pain that people feel in response to loss. The more significant the loss, the more intense the grief will be. Most often people think of grief as being associated with the death of a loved one.  Death brings with it a significant grieving process, but grief can also be associated with divorce, job loss, financial loss and many other types of loss.

Everyone experiences grief differently.  The grieving process is highly personal and there is no right or wrong way to grieve.  Grieving is a very personal experience.   The grieving process takes time. Healing happens gradually; it can’t be rushed.  Some people start to feel better in weeks or months. For others, the grieving process takes much longer; there is no specific time frame given to moving through grief. Whatever the grief experience, it’s important to be patient with oneself and to seek support to help move through the process.

Recovery from Grief:

Grief counseling is different than Psychotherapy.  Grief counseling begins by allowing clients to talk about their loss.  They talk about the details as much as they need to.  At first it may be difficult to talk and that is okay.  In time, talking about the loss becomes very therapeutic Grief counseling helps clients to normalize what they are feeling. People going though grief often feel they are going crazy.  People need to be reassured that they are not going crazy and that their feelings are normal.  When dealing with grief it can be helpful to talk with an objective professional. Those that one may be close to may be going through the same feelings and not the best people to talk with.  Education about the stages of Grief and Recovery are a helpful component to Grief Counseling.