Grief
Grief Counseling in Orange County, California
With help, you will be whole again, but you will never be the same. And that’s okay.
Understanding Grief Counseling and Therapy
Loss is one of the hardest things to endure. Grief is a natural response to loss. It can range from mild to soothing and strong to troubling feelings. You may assign different levels of responsibility as you wade through its murky waters.
The pain of losing something or someone comes with unexpected emotions of shock, disbelief, anger, guilt, regret, fear, and profound sadness. This pain affects how you sleep, eat, think, and relate to those around you.
Grief comes from losing a loved one, health, a relationship, financial stability, a life-long dream, a pet, a family home, or a job. The more significant your loss, the more intense the anguish you experience.
Effective therapies for grief therapy
- Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) – The CBT technique involves learning to identify and change negative thought patterns. It assumes that learning to cope with your negative behavior helps you can alleviate grief symptoms and live a healthier, more productive life.
- Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) – This psychotherapy encourages you to accept the negative feelings of a loss and adopt healthy ways to help you overcome and reach your goals.
- Art therapy – This is helpful if you can’t communicate your feelings. Art therapy uses creativity to help people of all ages express their emotions and find healing.
- Group therapy – Small groups gather to share their thoughts and feelings. Group therapy participants share similar experiences. It offers you the comfort of sharing and being in recovery with people who understand what you’re going through.
- Play therapy – During play therapy, imagination helps gain insight into a child’s thoughts and feelings. A therapist uses this knowledge to help the child deal with unresolved emotions and adopt healthy coping mechanisms.
The Story Wellness Approach Grief Counseling
Grief therapy offers the support you need to explore and process a loss.
Therapy sessions validate your feelings and provide a safe space to express the intensity of your emotions.
- Grief therapy doesn’t push you to move on prematurely. It supports how you grieve and provides the time you need to heal.
- Working with a grief therapist helps you maintain relationships, make sound choices and find healthy ways to move on.
- Grief counseling or therapy is a form of professional help designed to help you deal with and overcome the effects of a loss.
- Therapy techniques offer guidance and tools to help you process a loss and find healing.
As you go through therapy, you adjust to the new reality by developing new daily routines and rethinking your plans to create a new life and sense of identity.
