Counseling for Grief & Loss
Grief and loss can impact us in many ways. Pain, sorrow, longing and yearning, and sadness can occur when we lose someone or something in our lives. Other emotions may include loneliness, anguish, or guilt. Numbness or finding it difficult to engage in your life are also reminders that grief affects us powerfully. Grief can also be associated with prolonged, complicated grieving or major depressive disorder.
Grief is something that we all will deal with at some point in our lives. Most people find it easier to avoid thinking about things that cause grief, such as death of someone or loss of something important. However, sharing your grief journey in counseling with a trained professional can make the process clearer and help you feel less alone in your pain. I’m so glad you are seeking counseling for grief.
You deserve to feel less alone.
You may wonder if your life will ever be normal again. You feel so sad, alone, and frustrated. Other people do not seem to understand, or worse yet offer meaningless platitudes (i.e., “it’s all for the best.”) You don’t know how to move forward, and the grief and pain keep holding you back.
Counseling for grief provides you with tools that will help you carry on in your life. You will have a safe space where you can share without judgment, where you can learn new skills to manage your grief/loss, and where you can explore your emotions and talk about the loss. You will have emotional support from a caring person, and you will learn to be kinder to yourself through this process.
How Individual Counseling for Grief Works
First, you will schedule a free consultation where we can determine if we’re a good fit and if grief counseling is appropriate. We’ll talk briefly about what is bringing you to counseling and what results you would like to achieve.
As we start working together, we’ll explore in more detail your grief journey and other history. I will ask questions an do a lot of listening, giving you space to share what you need. I welcome questions related to grief counseling!
Next, we will together craft a plan for what you want to achieve and discuss counseling goals. We’ll discuss some of the challenges you might encounter and work on ways to address those.
In our next sessions, we will continue to work on your counseling goals. If your grief does not get better, or if new problems arise, we will hold space to address those. We will make adjustments to any goals if needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
+ Do I need counseling for grief and loss?
Counseling for grief and loss can be undertaken for many issues related to grief and/or loss. We all encounter the loss of a loved one or important piece of our lives at some point. Loss can include moving on from a job, a pet's death, a parent or relative's death, a divorce, moving to a new city, etc. Past losses can also significantly impact us, even if it has been years and the grief/loss is keeping you stuck. If you are trying to figure out how to move forward from a loss, or are in the grieving process, it may be helpful to engage in counseling for grief and loss.
+ How can counseling for grief and loss help me?
Grief/loss counseling can offer professional support to help you heal. Part of grief counseling includes processing emotions surrounding grief, whether they be sadness, anger, guilt, etc. It can be devastating to have a loved one die, or to have a significant part of your life changed. Strategies for coping include grief activities to process the grief/loss, as well as not avoiding the grief but learning to manage triggers and anniversaries. Although one can never fully recover from grief/loss, you can experience "the boulder on your shoulder becoming the pebble in your pocket"- the lessening of the intensity of grief over time, and the ability to move forward with your life.
+ How do I start counseling with you?
It's easy! Please just call my office number, email me, or fill out the contact form on the Contact Page. We can schedule a free 20 minute consultation to see if we would be a good fit to work together.