What Is Grief Counseling? Is Grief Counseling Helpful?

We all experience abrupt changes in life due to loss of someone or sudden change in the personal situation. Grief counseling is usually provided to cope with the stress of losing a loved one by death. Not just that, it is also applicable to people dealing with divorce, loss of a job, financial backlashes, poor health conditions, issues related to home or status.

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Grief counseling shall not be confused with bereavement counseling. The latter one is a form of psychotherapy to help people who have lost a loved one forever. This means that grief counseling has a broader aspect than the other.

[ Be Your Own Healer: Understanding the Stages of Grief & Check, In Which Stage You Are ]

Grieving Feelings

The feeling of grief is not limited to sadness. There is guilt, pain, anger and regret that comes along due to different reasons. However, there could be a bounce in between different feelings and some may even want to call themselves responsible for particular instances.

Read Also: How To Deal with Grief

What Can Grief Counseling Do?

Therapies look like patients sitting on the couch and therapists talking to them on the other side. Well, not all therapies are the same. The concept of grief therapy lies in touching the emotions and feelings of a client so that they find peace within. However, it has to be understood that grief therapy doesn’t exactly solve problems related to trauma and loss but helps with behavioral health.

It has needs to be understood that grief counseling and grief therapy cannot:

• Make you forget about the deceased or someone who has left
• Completely forget the pain of loss
• Change who you are in person

Grief counselors usually understand the stages of grief you are going through and present the techniques to mourn the death of a loved one in a healthy way. Before the techniques are revealed, understand why grief therapy could act as a positive turn in your life.

Also Read: 7 Ways To Let Go Of The Past & Move Freely In Future

Ways Grief Counseling Can Help You

1. Expressing & Talking About Loss

A lot of people suppress their thoughts and feelings and hide what they are going through for a long time. During the therapy, therapists want to make sure that the person expresses all the instances that lead them into such a situation along with the associated feelings. All the frustration, sadness, worries and sadness that are bothering them is released out.

2. Accepting The Reality Of Loss

Sometimes grief makes you feel overwhelmed or one doesn’t even feel anything. In that case, you may feel disconnected from everyone and may even suffer emotional losses. The therapist tries to understand all the feelings you are going through and holds the counseling accordingly.

Also Read: The Power of Self Acceptance: Ways To Accept Yourself

3. Overcoming Guilt

Guilt is definitely not a healthy emotion and it can act as a barrier in overcoming grief. You might not be grieving enough due to the settled guilt inside. However, holding the grief will only create serious problems in relationships and a healthy lifestyle. The grief counseling therapy makes sure that you live your life fully within and respect the lives of people living around you.

Also Read: How To Get Rid Of Guilt That’s Bothering You So Much?

4. Coping With Future Changes

Losing someone due to any reason is a life changing experience. Someone whom you were connected with everyday may not be coming back and you are not happy about it. However, grief counseling helps in managing your losses and teaches you ways to handle the emotional stress in near future.

Techniques Of Grief Counseling

There are a variety of techniques that grief counselors perform to help you manage your behavioral health. Some techniques include:

1. Discussing The Moment Of Loss:

If someone has lost a loved one due to death, they are asked to experience the moments once again with the explanation of ‘I heard’ or ‘I saw’ to release it out. It helps them in identifying the trauma that needs to be dealt.

2. Cognitive restructuring:

It is usual for a person to experience thoughts like ‘I am left alone’ or ‘Will there ever be someone to love me again’. But a counselor tries to mould the thoughts into structured and realistic ones, injecting positive sides.

3. Empty chair technique:

The person is asked to sit on one chair and an empty chair is placed in front of them. Now they can imagine that the departed person is sitting in front of them and share their own thoughts with them. The Empty chair technique helps in resolving unfinished business in a better way.

Disclaimer: As BetterHelp Affiliate, We may receive compensation from BetterHelp or other sources if you purchase products or services through the links provided on this page.

4. Art Therapy:

Art is a beautiful way to express your feelings and so is the case with grief counseling. One can express the emotions through art, use the same to keep it in a special place or donate it away to relieve themselves.

Also Reads: Discover and Recover your Inner Self with Art Therapy

5. Getting back to self-esteem:

Your counselor helps you in finding out the lost self confidence which might have subsided due to someone’s exit.

6. Journal writing:

Journaling lets you understand all the feelings you are experiencing. From sad to happy, you can also write out all the negative emotions and their solutions alongside.

Also Read: Journaling For Mental Health & An Outlet For Feelings

7. Finding signs of depression:

When you meet a grief counselor, they ask you about all the other symptoms and behavioral changes being faced. This is done to figure out if a major depression or other mental health disorder has striked.

Image Source: whatsyourgrief.com

Where To Seek Help?

As we have learned that grief is a normal human emotion and must be acknowledged properly. However, if it is staying with you for weeks or months and you are not able to cope up with it, it is needed that you stand up and ask for help. For the same, drop us a message at info@calmsage.com and let us help you connect with a professional counselor.

Express yourself and get healed, starting from now!