Grief Counseling
Has Grief Overwhelmed Your Daily Life?
- Do you find yourself constantly replaying memories in your mind, unable to focus on the present?
- Are there moments when the loss feels so fresh, it’s as though it happened yesterday?
- Do you hear a song or visit a place that suddenly brings all the emotions rushing back?
- What if you could find a way to cherish these memories without feeling consumed by sorrow?
When you’re grieving, it can feel like carrying a heavy weight that only you can feel. You might manage to get through your daily responsibilities, appear normal to those around you, but the quiet moments can bring an intense sense of loss. This disparity between your public facade and private suffering is a common part of grief.
Grief often comes with profound emotional and physical reactions. It might lead you to withdraw from activities that once brought joy, or it could disrupt your sleep patterns, either making you sleep too much or too little. Some find their appetite changes drastically, which can further affect their physical health. These reactions can leave you feeling drained, unfocused, and trapped in a cycle of sadness.
Perhaps you’ve started avoiding social gatherings because they remind you of what you’ve lost, or maybe you feel nobody truly understands your pain. If you’re supporting a family or in a relationship, this isolation can be compounded by feelings of guilt for struggling when others depend on you.
Your thoughts might be dominated by notions that you could have done more, or that part of your life is irreversibly lost. Such thoughts can make the grieving process feel like an insurmountable barrier to moving forward.
The good news is, grief therapy can offer a path through your sorrow, helping you to reconnect with the joy of your memories without being overwhelmed by the pain of loss.
Everyone Experiences Grief In Their Own Way
“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.”
– Jamie Anderson
According to the American Psychological Association, grief is a natural response to loss and manifests uniquely in each individual. Current understanding is that grief is influenced by a variety of factors, including personal, cultural, and familial influences.
Life doesn’t pause for grief, and the pressure to “keep going” can sometimes feel overwhelming. Many feel that they must hide their grief to avoid making others uncomfortable. This can lead to feelings of loneliness and may hinder the healing process.
When you open up to friends or family, you might encounter well-meaning but hurtful comments like, “Aren’t you over it yet?” Such remarks can make you feel even more isolated and misunderstood.
Humans are inherently resilient, and while we naturally seek to resolve our grief alone, this solitary approach can sometimes prolong the pain. Our reluctance to share our grief is often reinforced by societal stigma surrounding expressions of profound sadness, especially in cultures that value stoicism.
Imagine finding a way to honor your feelings without being overwhelmed by them. Grief therapy provides tools to understand and articulate your emotions, offering strategies to handle the inevitable waves of sadness.
Seeking Grief Therapy Can Facilitate Healing
Our approach to grief therapy at The Davis Group Counseling and Wellness Services is person-centered. We believe that each person’s grief is unique, and therapy should reflect this. Our therapists are not here to direct your healing but to facilitate a journey through your grief in a way that respects your individual needs.
In your initial sessions, your therapist might ask, “What memories have been most present for you lately?” This present-focused inquiry helps to recognize the immediate impacts of grief while acknowledging that past events influence current feelings. What makes grief therapy effective is that you will be encouraged to express the feelings you might normally suppress. Addressing these feelings can help you process the underlying sadness and begin to find moments of peace.
We also offer education about grief to help demystify the process and normalize what you’re experiencing. This understanding can be crucial in explaining your state of mind to loved ones, helping them to provide the support you need.
Our grief counseling methods are tailored to the needs of those mourning a loss, grief counseling provides a space to express feelings and thoughts related to the bereavement. Counselors guide clients through the natural stages of grief, helping them to accept the loss and adjust to life without their loved one. Narrative Therapy, which involves re-telling and re-framing the story of your loss, and Supportive Therapy, focusing on strengthening your existing resources. These techniques help you view your life’s narrative in a way that integrates the loss but also recognizes your capacity for resilience and joy.
Through therapy, you’ll learn to redefine your relationship with your lost loved one, finding a balance between memory and moving forward. This can transform the way you experience grief, replacing the raw edges of pain with a softer, more manageable sorrow.
The transformation you might experience through grief therapy can be profound. You’ll discover strength in your vulnerability, deepen your relationships, and begin to feel more present in your own life, despite the grief.
But you might still wonder if grief therapy is right for you.
Perhaps you’re ready to see a therapist for anxiety, but you still have questions…
I should be able to handle my grief on my own, and I’m concerned about how I will be perceived by others for seeking treatment.
Grief is something that affects millions upon millions of people, and you are not alone in experiencing it. Furthermore, therapy is becoming an increasingly acceptable form of self-care. As human beings, we are wired for connection, and overcoming grief is not something that is meant to be done in isolation or without the help of others. If you can acknowledge that physicians are necessary for physical health, then it may be easier for you to accept that therapists are necessary for mental health.
I’m worried that I will be pressured into taking medication or sharing painful information from my past.
At The Davis Group, you will never be forced into anything—whether it’s about sharing information or using medication. We believe that for the therapeutic process to work, a sense of trust and security with your therapist must be achieved. While we may discuss hard topics, our clinicians are trained to do so in an empathetic, skillful way that builds a sense of trust and safety rather than obligation.
I don’t have the time or money to commit to grief therapy.
If you’re concerned about the time and financial aspects of attending therapy, we encourage you to think about the ways that grief has robbed you of time and money in the past. Whereas therapy only takes up an hour of your time each week, grief has likely taken up precious time and productivity on a daily basis. Similarly, you’ve probably spent a bit of money searching for relief from your grief—whether that takes the form of substance use, shopping, or self-care rituals.
Therapy is an investment in yourself that is worth it! And given that many of our clients begin to experience relief from symptoms of their grief in just a matter of weeks or months, it’s likely a quicker and less expensive fix in the long run. After all, you and your inner peace are the most worthwhile and important investment.
