The pain in your heart and drag on your spirit is the result of the loss of someone or something important in your life. You have lost a piece of you. Feeling lost and stuck in the pain of loss and grief is overwhelming for many people. There is no reason to suffer in silence. Seeking grief counseling is not surrendering or giving up. Grief counseling is the light on your dark path. There are different types of grief and symptoms brought about by a tremendous loss. Pain from loss is normal but getting lost or stuck is sometimes so profound only grief counseling helps you find your way.
Why You Grieve
Life is entangled with other’s lives, pets, friends, family, and life events. Divorce, injury, financial devastation and especially the loss of a special person will bring anyone to their knees in grief. Your life has a path and when obstacles, like death and loss, cross the path it is easy to get lost. Grief is debilitating and takes as long as it takes. Many times, grief is a lifelong struggle. You grieve because the precious links in your life chain have broken. Now you have to find a way to repair the chain. Life will never be the same after a tremendous loss but there is no reason why you cannot find another way. Grief counselors are trained to help you in finding a way to live with the loss and find a way to continue on your life path.
Symptoms of Grief
- Lethargy, feeling tired and sleeping much more than normal.
- Short temper without provocation
- Tearfulness and sadness most of the time
- Non-stop thoughts of your loss
- Unreasonable anger or agitation
- Cannot see beyond the loss to the future.
- Hopelessness and fearful.
- Lacking the ability to interact or bond with others.
- Avoidance of or overly engaged in the loss.
- Self-destructive behavior
- Poor hygiene or appetite
- Oversleeping or eating
When to Seek Help
When life has no meaning, joy or continuum it is time to seek the help of a professional. Absentminded, suicidal, violent, withdrawal from social interaction, profound guilt, and disconnect from life, family and friends are all signs of complicated or profound grief which requires a helping professional grief counselor. Symptoms of normal grief eventual alleviate, but deeper grief is a signal requiring gentle guidance through the painful lingering.
How Does Grief Counseling Make a Difference?
Grief counseling is a means in helping the grief-stricken to deal with the loss. Once the loss is faced and put into perspective, then the patient is ready to survive the loss and grief. Treatments include talk, walk and talk therapies, journaling, memorizing your loss, yoga, breathing exercises, and group therapies.
Once trust in a grief counselor becomes solidified the path to recovery from loss is more visible and moving beyond the worst is possible. The value of life and the future is easier to comprehend once the survivor guilt, pain, and loneliness of grief have diminished, allowing new experiences and a new normal to happen. Mourning a loss is constructive with a grief counselor guiding the way through the memories, pain, setbacks, and feelings of loss. Acknowledgment of the guilt, fear, pain and connection to your loss is the beginning of the walk through the darkest part of the path to recovery. Recovery is not a definitive moment but more of a way of living with the loss in a healthier way.
Living with Loss
Loss is a difficult part of life, but a grief counselor helps the grief-stricken with the social, religious, physical and mental hurdles. The loneliness of grief is evident as time goes on because others have moved on while the grieving still experiences the day-to-day reality of their loss. Group therapy or grief support groups, as part of the healing, is another tool in grief counseling. Knowing you are not alone in the grief, loss, and feelings is a relief to many as they share memories, stories and enlightening moments.
The stress of ongoing illness, financial distress, and family discord affects physical health, as well as mental and emotional health. Stress raises hormones which affect hair, skin, digestion, organs and systemic body functions. Regular check-ups with your family doctor catch many of the manifestations of illness associated with grief, loss, and stress. Staying physically healthy, exercising and eating well are steps in the right direction to fight ongoing effects of grief.
Seek a Grief Counselor that You Are Comfortable With
Finding the right grief counselor for you is important in the healing process. To talk more about grief counseling send me an email or call me at (215) 297-8361 to discover peace in your loss. Get your life back without forgetting what you lost with a healthy caring approach.
