“Grief is not a disorder, a disease or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love. The only cure for grief is to grieve.”
GRIEF & Loss Counseling.
There is no closure in grief but rather a new and a continuing bond.
Culture, spirituality, ethnicity, and religion shape a family’s values and beliefs—forming the foundation of one’s worldview. From within this system, children observe family members participating in loss rituals that help accept the loss and grieve a loved one’s death.
These early experiences can influence how we respond to loss in the future. One of my first tasks as your grief counselor is to invite you to share your first experiences with loss. This self-narrative helps me understand your core beliefs, values, and worldview.
While each individual responds to loss uniquely—and each loss evokes a unique response—our worldview and belief system buoy our early coping strategies throughout our life’s journey.
I meet you where you are in your grieving process, assuring you that grief does not have a set of stages or a timeline. We work together to identify personal metaphors for your grief, and I provide validation for your wide range of emotions—a counselor may be the only one who does.
I encourage you to experience, heal, and grow from the pain and sorrow you experience in loss as human and pet parents, spouses, partners, adult children, friends, colleagues, and the world at large.
You can make meaning out of loss, identify ways to continue to strengthen your bond with your loved one, and reengage in life on your timeline—no one else’s.
Through the integration of healing talk therapy, expressive arts, and meaning-making exercises, you are able to share your loss stories, find meaning in your loss(es), and reconstruct a life that helps you maintain continuing bonds while reconstructing your new life.
Grief Counseling Benefits.
Accept the reality of your loss
Process pain & suffering
Develop continuing bonds
Reconstruct your self-identity
Make sense of your life's journey
Find meaning & purpose
Re-engage in life activities
Reduce anxiety & depression
Decrease social isolation
WHAT DOES A grief counseling SESSION LOOK LIKE?
The first session is 55 minutes and gives you an opportunity to tell the story of you and your loved one — when you met or brought a fur friend into your home, the type of relationship you had when they were alive, when and how they died. If you have experienced a pregnancy loss, I encourage you to share with me your story of conceiving, your pregnancy journey and loss. I assess you for five important areas of wellness during mourning: Nourishment, Sleep, Exercise, Socializing, and Hydration.
Regular sessions are 55 minutes and focus on the issues you bring and continue our discussions from prior sessions.
During these sessions, you are the driver of your experiences. I listen closely with empathy and non-judgment. I pose questions, share observations, and actively engage you in a deeper exploration of your presenting topics to assist in finding a way to express your thoughts, feelings, and emotions in a safe and respectful manner.
WHAT TOPICS DO WE DISCUSS?
All topics are open for discussion. I encourage you to explore emotions associated with your grief and how your loved one made a life imprint on you. Our time together will include working through the 6 needs of mourning:
Accept the reality of the death.
Face the pain and suffering of your loss.
Develop continuing bonds with your loved one.
Reconstruct your self-identity.
Find meaning and purpose in your loss.
Reengage in life and relationships.
HOW MANY SESSIONS?
I recommend a commitment of at least 10 sessions, upon which we review progress and determine next steps together. You can terminate our work together at any time.
Grief Composition Work.
For some, finding the words to express the deep sorrow they feel can be overwhelming. They may feel numb, frozen, or disconnected from reality.
Grief composition work allows one to use found objects to explore myriads aspects of the self (strengths, roles, etc) while also exploring relationships with the deceased and others.
This work includes a visioning of the self pre-loss, post-loss, and an envisioning of the preferred future.
