Grief & Bereavement Counseling
We all know what it’s like to someone or something dear to us: a grandparent, a pet, a job, a crush, hope for a particular something… We each deal with these losses exactly as we do. And oddly, how we deal with on loss doesn’t necessarily predict how we’ll tolerate the next. What does tend to be consistent is feeling a wide range of emotions such as longing, confusion, anger, fear, and deep, deep sadness.
We can experience the loss in any number of ways. Common symptoms of grief can be physical, emotional or social.
Physical
- Crying and sighing
- Headaches
- Loss of appetite
- Cravings for comfort foods
- Poor sleeping
- Exhaustion
- Overall heaviness of the body
Emotional
- Sadness and yearning
- Worry and Fear
- Irritability and Anger
- Guilt or shame
- Wide fluctuations in mood
- And because we’re walking around with our broken-heart wide-open the more pleasant feelings can be felt more deeply, which brings us back to feelings of guilt and shame and mood swings…
Social
- Feeling detached from others
- Self-isolation from social contact
- Behaving in ways that are not normal for you
- You may fear you’ll burn your friends and family out with your grief (ok that’s both social and emotional)
- Conversely, you may prefer to surround yourself with caring others / or others who don’t know of your loss
Why is this time so much harder?
Each grieving experience is different. You may be able to continue the day-to-day routine after one loss, yet not be able to get out of bed after another loss–even if it seems like that loss should somehow be easier because it was just a job or you weren’t together for that long, or… It can be crazy-making when your experience doesn’t match what you assume society expects of you (that internal voice screaming at you get over it already). Whatever your personal experience, research tells us that counseling is likely to be helpful.
Loss is inevitable. It can be difficult to move through grief and loss in isolation. Please reach out if you’d like to explore these muddy waters my kind support.