Itís very painful to lose someone or something you care deeply about. You’re likely going to experience varying emotions and itís also possible to assume that the sadness and pain will never go away. Well, you should know that these reactions are very normal. Of course, there is no right or wrong ways to go about it. However, you can cope with grief in a healthy manner and move on eventually. Here are some grief and loss counselling tips that should come in handy.
Definition Of Grief
A simple understanding of grief is that it is the natural response after losing something or someone you love deeply. If the loss is very significant, you might suffer through a very intense period of grief. Most people associate grief with the death of their loved ones. However, it can always come up because of losing sentimental items such as your childhood home, your job, good friendship and much more.
Everyone has a different way of grieving after loss. It can be understood as a very individual and personal experience. The type of grieving you go through might differ depending on your coping mechanisms, faith, life experiences, nature of the loss and also your personality. It might take time to get over the loss and thatís when the healing commences. For some people grieving might happen over a few months or weeks while others can take as many years as possible.
Grief And Loss Counselling Advice
Therefore, whatever your grieving method, it’s always prudent to let the natural process unfold. One of the best grief and loss counselling advice is to never ignore the pain. If you do that, you will make everything worse in the long run. Therefore, face it and go through the process, however long it takes until you can start healing.
Remember, everyone can go through devastating loss. Therefore, you don’t have to act strong and unbreakable. It’s alright to feel frightened, sad or even lonely sometimes. There is no need to act strong trying to protect your family. Rather than putting up a brave front, you should show your true feelings and let the people around you help you cope with grief.
Of course, grieving doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to cry every second of the day. As mentioned above many people experience loss differently. Yes, you’re allowed to cry but you’re not limited to that. People who don’t cry may experience the pain as deeply as the rest and have other ways of showing their grief.
Regardless of how long grieving takes, it mostly goes through five stages. The first one is denial where you don’t actually believe that you’re going through that particular situation. Secondly, you might go through the angry phase where you express anger and try to find a reason why you’re going through the current situation. Third, there is the bargaining stage where you try to negotiate. The fourth phase is depression where the sadness sets in. Finally, there is the acceptance stage where you become at peace with the situation and are ready to move on.
Whatever you’re going through, you should understand that it’s a normal and natural reaction to grieve. Therefore, donít resist it or try to hide it but try to go through the five stages and once you’re done, however long it takes, you can start healing. Of course, there are some people who might not progress through the grieving stages naturally. However, they can heal and move on once they are done with grieving.
That’s allowed too. You don’t have to constantly worry about what stage of grieving you’re currently in just to see if you’re going to get better soon or not. Rather, you should allow it to progress naturally. However, you don’t have to go through everything alone. You can always turn to your relatives or friends. Share about what you’re going through and allow them to comfort you during these trying times.
Note that, grieving might be harder if you’re going through it alone. Therefore, find a way and a place to talk about it. Yes, you might be proud of being strong but at times like these, everyone needs support. On the other hand, if you’re a religious person, you can always pray about your situation and talk to God about it. That way, regardless of whether you’re sharing your current situation with others, you always have someone to talk to.
Finally, you should consider joining a support group. Regardless of what situation you’re going through, there might be someone experiencing the same thing as you. Therefore, you can find a support group near you or online and talk to other people about what you’re experiencing. Through sharing with others, you will start feeling better and the healing process might come sooner than expected.