Grief Counseling

Are You Feeling Lost In A Tunnel Of Grief?

Are you feeling painfully overwhelmed, isolated, and confused by all your emotions from grief? Are you finding yourself lost in a place you knew existed, but never thought you would be here, especially not now?

You’ve always heard of someone passing, but never really knew how you would be affected by a loss specific to you. Have you been asking yourself questions like:

• How long does it take to grieve a loved one? Am I even grieving the right way?

• How can I live life moving forward when I find myself always looking back at life before my loss?

• Why do I feel calm one minute and then filled with such intense emotions the next? Can grief get worse?

You may also wonder if you could have done anything differently that would have prevented your loss. You might feel regret that you didn’t tell your loved one how much you love them, or you may still have unresolved conflicts with them. So many things seem to be keeping you in this tunnel, with no clear direction on where to go or how to get out of this.

It’s Not Easy To Talk About Grief

Although you may have felt understood by others during the arrangements that followed your loss, you now find yourself questioning when are you going to return to the person you used to be.

Maybe you can’t seem to stop crying or thinking about your loved one. You may feel like others don’t understand what you’re going through and worry they will not want to be around you if you share what you’re still feeling.

Perhaps you’ve stopped caring about your job, home, hobbies, and yourself. You may even find yourself having difficulty getting through simple tasks without going back to the pain that seems to never leave.

Adapting to a loss can be extremely challenging. A compassionate, experienced, and non-judgmental grief counselor and educator can support you in talking about your loved one and gradually help you rebuild your life after a loss.

Grief Can Be Overwhelming And Isolating

Every loss is unique to you because it is deeply rooted in your relationship with the person you lost, the circumstances surrounding the loss, and your individual personality.

Perhaps the loss of your loved one may have been medically expected, and you feel pressured by thinking you should be much further along in your grief journey because you knew about their illness. Or maybe the loss was completely unexpected, and it seems so surreal to not have your loved one with you here today.

When your loss initially happened, you may have felt supported by others. But now, you don’t know what to do with this empty space in your heart and in your life. You feel like people expect you to be able to return to the person you used to be, which only makes you feel forgotten, alone, and grieving in silence.

Loss Changes You, But Healing Is Possible

Adjusting to life after a loss can feel like a betrayal, especially when it involves the loss of a loved one or a significant relationship. But this kind of reasoning can leave people feeling stuck.

With the help of a grief therapist, you can:

• Have a place to talk about your grief without holding back.

• Reflect on your relationship with your loved one and all that came with it—good and bad.

• Address fears of moving forward and process unresolved concerns that bring up emotions like anger or guilt.

• Identify what you need to integrate your loss into your life.

The truth is, you are not the same person after a loss. Grief counseling can help you reorient and restructure your life while maintaining a connection with your loved one.

Grief Counseling Can Help Transform Pain Into Love

Many people respond to a loss and the pain that accompanies loss by trying to avoid it and suppress their emotions, but this prolongs suffering. You can move forward in life only if you allow yourself to go through your grief. And that’s where I can help.

With my support, you can explore anything you need to with someone who has experienced many losses herself since early childhood and understands how grief affects us universally and personally. I will meet you where you are in your grief journey and walk with you along this path.

Grief is complicated, and the process can be prolonged. But I do not believe grief is a disorder.

Furthermore, grief therapy isn’t some miracle cure for dealing with loss. It will not help you forget about a deceased loved one nor avoid the pain that accompanies the loss. Instead, it can help you understand, accept, and manage emotions with the hope of living a full life where your loved one is remembered with more love than pain.

What To Expect In Grief Counseling Sessions

In counseling, you can process the challenges that arise from grief, navigate through difficult memories and emotions, build a strong support system to end feelings of isolation, and find a way to move forward. I approach grief counseling with these core principles in mind to help you navigate this difficult chapter:

• Grief takes its own time to heal. Every loss is different, and so is the amount of time it takes before an individual can begin to move forward.

• Grief is not linear. The 5 stages of grief are a process that a person fluctuates through, and often feels like a rollercoaster of emotions as you go through these stages.

• No one can judge grief as progress or setbacks. Grief is a normal and natural experience, mixed with many emotions that will wax and wane over time.

Our culture does not want to acknowledge grief. In sessions, though, I’ll create a sacred space where you can honor your loved one. You can freely reflect on your memories, talk about what you miss, and explore where you are in the current moment of your grief, with acknowledgement and understanding.

Personalized Approaches To Grief Counseling

I have been trained as a Certified Grief Educator by the world’s top grief expert, David Kessler, and am committed to providing the highest level of grief support through education, experience, and insights into the often-unacknowledged rocky terrain of grief.

In counseling, I incorporate many different techniques to support you through your grief, such as:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) can help you hold space for the complicated emotions around your loss while finding new meaning and purpose in life.

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a powerful pathway to changing your beliefs about what your future might look like and letting go of regrets.

• Movement and Mindfulness can help you release physical tension and find presence again in your daily life.

A part of you died with your loved one, and a part of them still lives on in you. Memories, places, and things constantly remind you of them. Instead of running from these reminders, grief counseling will provide the support and encouragement needed to help you work through difficult emotions that come up during these reminders.

But You May Still Have Questions About Grief Counseling…

Can’t I just grieve on my own?

Accepting loss and dealing with the emotions that come with it is a painful process and hard work. Although people can work through grief on their own, we are not meant to grieve in isolation. Even with the best support systems and coping skills, you may be struggling and could benefit from counseling.

Grief counseling helps individuals work through the various stages and emotions of grief following a loss. Counseling can help you avoid some of the more acute manifestations of grief and process your emotions in a healthy manner.

Will grief counseling make me feel worse?

An essential part of managing grief is experiencing the pain that comes from a loss. Feeling your feelings in a healthy way and being able to freely talk about your loved one, including your relationship with them, will lead to healing. Nothing is more painful than what you have already experienced.

In session, you may initially feel worse, but talking to someone who understands how hard grief can be on so many levels, can help you feel better in due time. And if it takes a while for you to get there, I understand that.

I still don’t know if I need counseling - what if my loss happened a long time ago?

If you are feeling stuck in your emotions, whether your loss is recent or rooted in the past, counseling can be the key to learning how to move through your pain. No matter the circumstances of your loss, you deserve support. You don’t need to suffer—you just need to have some direction on how to move forward with your loss.

Let Me Help You Find The End Of The Tunnel

If you are trying to navigate through the maze of grieving and would like to talk with a grief educator and counselor who can help you find understanding, compassion, acceptance of self, peace, and healing after your loss, please contact me at (631) 406-3139. I genuinely look forward to speaking with you and seeing how I can support you through your grief.