Counseling for Grief – Bereavement
Sometimes when people experience a death of a loved one, they seek out additional understanding of their feelings and emotions related to the loss. A Grief counselor and/or a Bereavement counselor can help you work through this period of adjustment after a loved dies.
Bereavement is the adjustment process of recovering from the death of a loved one. Grief is the reaction to the loss, which could be any kind of loss; loss of a loved one through death, divorce or loss of a relationship, loss of a job/employment, or other major life changes which trigger feelings of grief. Bereavement and Grief Counseling are sometimes used interchangeably, but it is important to understand that we “grieve” a variety of losses, but bereavement is related only to coping with death.
Once death of a loved one has occurred, there can be immense life changes occurring while one is adjusting to the death of their loved one. During this adjustment process, one may find it very difficult to adjust back into the normal role of life. In fact, it’s changed completely and may feel like nothing will ever be normal again. To some extent, it will never be “normal,” but one can learn coping skills through bereavement counseling to ease that period of adjustment which can help them return to their normal daily activities and move through the grieving process more comfortably.
A lot of times after a death of a loved one, people may feel like they don’t know “how” to grieve. The adjustment period after a death is an individual experience, meaning that, everyone will experience it differently. There is no specific time period one must take to adjust and there is no right or wrong way to feel during the bereavement process. Each individual must learn to cope in their own ways.
A bereavement counselor can help that person adjust to the loss, and provide them with support during this period. Sometimes a person may not have a solid support system and may end up feeling very alone, or feels like they had to be the strong one and has no one to turn to themselves. Talking to a mental health counselor who is trained in bereavement and grief can provide a safe, understanding, and compassionate outlet for one who is experiencing difficulty adjusting to the death of their loved one. This can help the person adjust to their new life changes whether good or bad, allow the person to express how they feel so that these feelings do not become bottled up where delayed sadness can prolong the pain.
In general, people experience several phases of bereavement while mourning the loss and working through their grief. Each individual will not experience these phases (or challenges) in the same order, at the same time, or even at all. Each person is different and copes differently. However, in general, one will struggle with the challenges of bereavement such as: accepting the loss really happened, adjusting to life without the person who has passed away, experiencing the emotions and feelings that come with grief, and finding ways to redirect the emotional energy from the grief into ways of finding a new place to put it.
If you are experiencing issues in coping with the death of a loved one, or are not accepting the death itself, or are feeling symptoms of depression or emotions and feelings that you don’t quite understand, then seeking out a counselor for bereavement counseling, grief counseling, and/or depression counseling may help you significantly.
If you are not sure if you need counseling or not, it doesn’t hurt to contact Dana Nolan at 407-340-2474, and receive a free brief phone consultation where you can discuss these issues or other issues in which you have questions about.
Finding the right counselor is important, therapeutic relationships are built on trust, honesty and mutual respect between the therapist and the client. It is important to find a counselor with whom you feel comfortable sharing your thoughts and feelings AND who has the necessary expertise to help you reach your goals. For that reason, we offer a free brief phone consultation to ensure that we are the right fit for you.