Bereavement and Loss

Grief is a universal event, but the experience is unique to every individual. Grief is our natural response to loss. How you grieve will depend on many things like the type of person you are, the relationship you had with the person and the supports you have in your life.  There isn’t any one right way to grieve and there is no universal timeline for your grieving journey.  Every loss brings change and change means adaptation to a new way of being.

Grief is physical, its emotional and for some its spiritual.  We don’t get over grief BUT as human beings we are hard wired to heal from emotional hurts, just as we heal from a physical injury.   The following are Physical sensation, Emotional feelings, Thoughts/Thinking and Behaviours you may be experiencing but are not limited to this list.

Physical Sensations : Hollowness in stomach, tightness in chest, over sensitivity to noise, breathlessness, weakness in muscles, Fatigue, lack of energy and dry mouth.

Feelings :Sadness, Anger, Guilt, Anxiety, Loneliness, lethargic, Yearning for the deceased person, helplessness, insecure, fearful of future and struggling to make decisions, overwhelmed by emotion.

Thoughts: Disbelief (it never happened), Confusion (not thinking straight), Preoccupation ( cant get deceased out of your mind)

Behaviours : Sleep disturbance – waking up, unable to sleep, Over activity/ Restlessness – working harder, Appetite changes, Crying, Searching, Dreams, Social Withdrawal and Absentminded behaviour – cant concentrate.

How can I benefit from Bereavement Counselling?

Our aim at Midlands Counselling Clinic in bereavement counselling is to support you as you move through your grieving process.  You will be met compassionately and empathically in a space where we can explore your thoughts and feelings non-judgementally.  We will give you a space to be heard, to have a voice and to be supported.

During Bereavement and Loss counselling we will :

• Provide a safe setting where free expression of grief is acceptable
• Allow you to grieve in a way that is right for you
• Help you to be patient with yourself in your grief
• Help you to realise the extent of your loss
• Help you to come to terms with and accept the loss you have experienced
• Encourage and empower you to move at your own pace through your grieving process.
• Help you to relearn ways to engage in the world without the deceased
• Help you to learn how to develop a meaningful and functioning life
• Help you to remember the person in love, rather than intense pain
• Encourage you to take time for you