Grief & Loss Therapy
Grief is the emotional response to a loss, often involving the death of a loved one. Other losses such as career retirement, divorce, or health-related challenges can cause an individual to experience grief.
What are the stages of grief?
Grief can encompass many different emotions—sadness, anger, guilt—as well as have significant mental and physical impacts on those suffering from it. In her book On Death and Dying, the author Elizabeth Kübler-Ross theorized that people working through grief follow a particular pattern:
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
While this provides a basic framework for understanding grief, researchers have since expanded on the Kübler-Ross model to account for the highly individualized nature of grief. Many people experience these stages in a different order, or they may not experience all of them, and feelings of grief can recur throughout a person’s life.
Most people naturally resolve or figure out how to manage their grief over time. For many others, these emotions persist and can have severe negative impacts on their lives. The purpose of grief therapy is to help people navigate this complex process and learn how to grieve in a healthy way by working through the various stages and emotions connected to their loss.
What is grief therapy?
Accepting loss and dealing with the emotions that come with it can be a painful process. While many people are able to work through grief on their own, others struggle to cope and may need professional assistance. Therapy can help individuals avoid some of the more acute manifestations of grief and process their emotions in a healthy manner.
The primary objectives of grief therapy include:
- Accept the loss
- Work through the pain
- Adjust to changes
- Maintain a connection
What are the benefits of grief therapy?
Grief therapy isn’t some miracle cure for dealing with loss. It won’t help the bereaved forget about a deceased loved one or avoid the pain of loss. Instead, it can help the bereaved understand, accept, and manage emotions to live a full life. The benefits of grief therapy include the following:
- Reduces anxiety, guilt, and depression
- Helps people understand the grieving process
- Reminds people there’s more than one way to grieve
- Helps people honor the deceased without trauma
- Helps people understand that grief can be caused by different kinds of loss
- Focus attention onto self-care
How do I know if I need grief therapy?
Every grieving experience is different. A person may be able to continue their day-to-day routine following one loss, yet struggle to function in life after a second one. Whatever your personal symptoms are, grief therapy has been proven to help.
If you are experiencing grief-related thoughts, behaviors, or feelings that are distressing, please contact me today for a free consultation.