Therapy for Grief & Loss
Everyone experiences grief or loss.
Feelings of grief and loss are understood to be a common experience after the death of a person.
Grief and loss are also common emotional journeys after we experience other kinds of endings, such as the loss of a relationship, the end of a dream, or falling short of a goal. These are all experiences that can have the piercing pain of an ending.
When you're experiencing grief and loss, it's hard to imagine feeling differently, or that things will ever feel "normal" again.
Grief is unique and personal, but there can be some commonalities.
Commonly experienced symptoms of grief can include:
Fatigue
Headaches
Stomach upset
Difficulty falling asleep
Sleeping too much or too little
Restlessness
Sadness, apathy, anger, regret, guilt
Reduced interest in activities, hobbies, or socializing
Sudden intrusive thoughts about the loss
Flashes of anger
Rapidly changing emotions
Feeling isolated
Therapy for grief and loss.
Therapy is a supportive, non-judgmental space to explore and move through the most challenging parts of grief and loss - shock, disbelief, anger, betrayal, familial estrangement, loneliness, regret, confusion about meaning – while discovering how to rebuild a life you can love.
Why get therapy for grief, loss, or bereavement?
Grief can feel incredibly isolating, even if you have a good support system. You might feel pressured by others or by circumstances to "move on" or "get back to normal." You might worry that other people are tired of hearing about your pain, or that mourning is somehow negatively those around you.
It is also common to feel misunderstood by well-intentioned family and friends who may not appreciate the nature of your loss or the meaning it has for you.
Grief therapy is a unique healing opportunity.
In therapy for grief, individuals encounter a uniquely safe space to experience the ups, downs, and inside-out-twists-and-turns of a loss without fear of judgement or discomfort. Grief therapy will unfold at a pace that feels right to you, and you'll never experience any pressure to "get back to normal," "get over it," or "move on."
Expert grief therapists recognize that grief changes us in more ways than you might even recognize, and that each of us will move forward through grief at a pace that is right for us.
Therapy can hep the grieving process and the many unexpected aspects of a loss.
In therapy, you'll experience a safe, non-judgmental, and compassionate place to express the thoughts, feelings, and emotional experiences that you may feel unable to share with others, such as anger, rage, resentment, guilt, shame, and difficulty accepting what's happened.
Here, you can work through feelings of hopelessness, isolation, yearning for what's gone, and fears about lost identity.
Therapy will also help you with tools to manage stress and overcome guilt, confront and move through unresolved history, and let go of limiting beliefs and regrets. You can develop long-term coping strategies and identify sticking points that complicate bereavement, like feelings of ambivalence about the loss.
Ultimately, therapy can help you find resolution and peace with unresolved grief and loss issues.
What's it like to get therapy for grief and loss?
Grief and loss therapy always move at your unique pace. Dealing with the pain of loss is an incredibly personal journey, and your healing process will unfold organically based on your unique and changing needs.
Therapy for grief and loss can help you cope with the deep and difficult feelings loss evokes. This help coping is achieved through open and honest dialogue in a safe, supportive space about the thoughts and feelings you're experiencing, gentle inquiry into our perceptions about the mulitple meanings of the loss, exploration of how thinking patterns about the loss create increased or additional distress, and practical/tactical coping skills to help you regain feelings of stability, normalcy, optimism, and even joy in the wake of loss.
Your needs will always dictate the process of grief therapy, and grief therapy will adapt to your unique healing experience.
People Also Ask
What are the 7 stages of grief?
The 7 Stages of Grief is a concept that was developed based on Elizabeth Kubler Ross' 1969 concept of grief in five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. While this model has been entrenched in many cultural ways of thinking about grief, research has generally found that grieving individuals do not move through a predictable, linear, emotional process with well-defined or even identifiable stages. One criticism of this model is that it implies that was a "right" way to grieve, and that missing a "stage" or experiencing it out of the "order" in which the stages are described created even more distress for the bereaved and the feeling that they were somehow grieving incorrectly.
How to help someone who is grieving?
Do: Ask what you can do to be helpful. Offer your company. Listen. Let them know you're thinking about them. Check in.
Do not: Offer reassurances such as "you'll be okay," "this too shall pass," "it's for the best," or "I know just how you feel." Talk about your own experiences with grief (unless they ask.)
What's the definition of grief?
Grief is commonly understood to be a deep feeling of sorrow related to the loss of something or someone treasured, cherished, or rare. The origin of the word itself derives from the French word for "burden," as grief commonly feels like an emotional burden.
Is grief a feeling?
Grief is a feeling and an experience, a natural emotional reaction to the loss of something or someone that is meaningful to you. The experience of grief can encompass a dizzying mixture of feelings including anger, rage, guilt, shame, shock, sadness, confusion, and despair, among others.
What kind of therapy is best for grief?
Several kinds of therapy can be very helpful with grief. I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness in my grief work with clients. There are other complimentary kinds of therapy and specific exercises and interventions that can be extremely useful in coping with specific grief experiences.
What's the best cure for grief?
"Cure" usually refers to an action step that will rapidly restore you to a desired state when you are unwell in some way.
Many of the symptoms of relief can be reduced and possibly, eventually, eliminated. The time it takes for symptom reduction is unique to each person and loss.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and other therapies can be extremely helpful in terms of improving your quality of life even while you are still experiencing grief
Often, people who are experiencing grief find that they don't feel nearly so desperate to find "a cure" for grief once they can improve their quality of life even while still grieving.
What is complicated bereavement?
Complicated bereavement is also known as complicated grief, prolonged grief disorder (PGD), or persistent complex bereavement disorder. Complicated bereavement is differentiated from normal grief by the medical and mental health professions when certain symptoms persist for longer than a year after the loss, and at least three of the symptoms are present nearly every day for at least the last month prior to diagnosis. Those symptoms include:
Difficulty accepting the death
Persistent longing for the deceased
Feeling that one has lost a part of one's self
Difficulty continuing with life
Emotional numbness
Avoidance of activities
Identity disruption
Profound sense of disbelief about the death
If you're experiencing symptoms of complicated bereavement, you might benefit significantly from working with a clinic that provides comprehensive specialty grief and loss care.