Grief Counseling
Are You Struggling With Loss?
It can be extremely difficult to endure loss. Whether you are grieving the loss of a loved one, pet, job, your health, or a life dream, navigating the complex and intense feelings that often accompany grief takes time and can be challenging to tackle alone. There is a misconception that the grieving process is linear, with a specific timeline and expiration date. Many of us grapple with the sensation that we should be over it by now, creating an inner conflict that makes grief all the more complicated.
Grief can take on many forms. Emotional pain from loss can translate to deep sadness, loss of joy and motivation, and even irritability. Physical symptoms might include insomnia, pain and discomfort, changes in appetite and libido, and more. Cognitive effects impact memory, concentration, and decision-making. Without tending to the grieving process, our overall quality of life can become severely compromised for weeks, months, and even years following a loss.
If you have experienced loss, you may be wondering How will I get through this? Not knowing how to navigate the painful feelings, you may find yourself turning away from difficult memories and emotions, and developing the false belief that you are alone. Or you may find yourself stuck in the rumination of the loss, unable to move forward. Working with an experienced therapist in grief counseling is an effective way to process the loss you have experienced, heal, and return meaning to your life.
Grief Is The Great Paradox Of Living And Being Alive
Life is filled with the experience of loss. As the natural response to loss, grief when engaged fully, can bring deep meaning into our lives, teach us about love, endurance, and even joy. While there are many common characteristics of grief, it is experienced in different ways, which can create more confusion and conflict—both within ourselves and with others.
The paradox is that all aspects of living and being alive include the experience of loss and yet, we continue to struggle. Every kind of transition—be it welcomed or not—holds the capacity to help us discover and integrate new aspects of ourselves through the grieving process. But only if we understand and engage in it fully. Even the “happy” transitional moments of life speak the language of loss to the soul and can invite grief. With all forms of loss, we may underestimate the value of seeking grief support, and a safe place to reflect, process, and gain deeper insights.
It is a common belief that grief is something you need to suffer alone, “get over” or “find closure for.” This approach of dismissing the experience, valuing external movement and distraction while isolating during grief can block the process, making symptoms worse. True healing comes from slowing down, tuning in, and cultivating deep connections. The goal is not to “get over” the loss, but to learn how to integrate it into our lives in a way that allows hope and meaning to shine through once again. Grief counseling offers an opportunity to understand loss by fostering dialogue with what was lost while establishing a meaningful path forward.
Let’s Explore Your Loss Together
Successful grief counseling is about integrating the experience of loss into our lives and building emotional tolerance and flexibility, which is the foundation of mental wellness. Just as you would stretch and exercise your body to gain flexibility and physical strength, the process of grief requires intention and practice. In tending to loss, you create stronger pathways to a full, vibrant, and healthy life.
My role as a grief counselor is to help you do this. By holding space and bearing witness to your process in an intentional way, we facilitate the change necessary to transform your suffering into meaning and hope. As we engage your emotions and empower your ability to tune in and listen to your inner healing wisdom, emotional growth takes place and light returns to a once darkened inner space.
What To Expect
As a psychodynamically oriented therapist, my approach is highly relational and seeks to bridge the gap between conscious and unconscious aspects of your grief response. Encouraging movement by locating unconscious psychological blocks or “stuck points,” we pave the way to your fullest potential. Rather than turning away from the pain of loss, you will learn to embrace, endure, and find meaning in it.
It is my experience as a clinical psychologist that the human psyche holds an extraordinary intelligence towards survival and healing. My work involves locating and strengthening this ability in you. When our natural healing process is silenced, the body and psyche speaks through emotional symptoms. I can teach you how to better understand your body’s language of grief and learn healthy ways to respond to the physical and emotional symptoms you are experiencing. These cues often signal the “unspeakable” aspects of the loss that lead to the root of our suffering.
As we change our relationship to the process of grief, our process of grief changes. And it is through this transformation that meaning and hope is found. Through counseling, you become more conscious of the underlying patterns that may be stunting and complicating your journey through grief.
Because loss is a natural human experience, I know you have the capacity to endure it—we all do. You are resilient, with the power to transform the grieving process in a way that gives meaning to your loss while offering solace. Therapy can reinforce a new sense of security in your life as you learn how to endure and navigate grief.
I’m Still Unsure If Grief Counseling Is Right For Me…
Nothing can help my grief.
This is a common and understandable feeling. Experiences of loss can bring about profound pain and vulnerability, making it difficult to grasp and frightening to seek support. The finality of loss can make us feel powerless, but having a safe space to learn how this loss impacts your life can be the antidote to feelings of loneliness, hopelessness, and fear. Creating a safe, reliable connection with a therapist facilitates the natural healing process as you feel more connected, develop healthy coping skills, and secure a strong relationship to your personal grief process.
I should be over the loss by now, but I just can’t let it go.
It’s natural to feel confused and frustrated about the grief process. And many of us buy into the false narrative that grief should take a certain amount of time. But the human psyche is complex and the idea of “letting go” or “getting over it” simply does not resonate with the complex experience of living fully and loving deeply. Once we understand that healing is not about letting the loss go, but rather learning how to embrace it as a valuable part of our being alive, the loss itself is experienced with less suffering and more peace. Grief counseling can help you manage your experience of loss and grief response both now and in the future.
I’m afraid that if I let myself feel the pain and cry, it will never stop, and I won’t be able to handle it.
This is an incredibly common fear, especially since the feelings associated with loss can be so strong. However, we are built to process and heal through the release of chemicals in our tears and movement of our e-motion. I want to assure you that, like all of us, you innately possess the capacity to heal–through your emotion. Ironically, it is the fear of feeling that tends to create a block and “silences” the body’s natural healing response. This silencing is what results in the stuckness that we experience and the range of emotional and physical symptoms. In this way, symptoms–that we usually try to get rid of–become valuable reminders that there has not been enough movement, whether through crying, emoting, or processing with another person.
I will work with you in counseling to embrace a more healthy, non-threatening relationship to yourself and your emotions. Let’s tap into your body’s natural healing mechanisms and initiate a nourishing grief journey!
You Can Endure Loss And Find Meaning Again
If you are struggling with a loss or want to learn more about how to process grief in a meaningful, transformative way, therapy can be significantly effective.
For more information about how I work with grief and can help, schedule a 20-minute consultation with me.
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