Is Your Grief Getting Too Heavy To Carry?
Has a painful loss turned your world upside down and left a hole in your heart? Do you:
Feel empty, sad, and guilty over things left undone or unsaid?
Struggle to accept what happened and move on from your loss?
Have a hard time functioning in daily life because of how heavy your grief is?
Whether you lost a loved one, pet, relationship, home, job, or anything else, there’s no sugarcoating how tough the grieving process is. It can impact every area of your life. You might be so consumed with anger and sadness that you end up neglecting self-care, putting off responsibilities, and canceling plans. As a result, maybe you’re thinking it’s time to connect with a grief therapist.
Do these signs of grief sound like what you're experiencing?
-
Overwhelming waves of emotion at unexpected times - Triggered by songs, smells, places, or seemingly random moments throughout your day
-
Physical symptoms of grief - Exhaustion, changes in appetite, trouble sleeping, or feeling heavy and drained all the time
-
Difficulty concentrating or making decisions - Your mind feels foggy, and even simple choices feel impossible
-
Avoiding reminders of your loss - Staying away from certain places, people, or activities because they're too painful
-
Anger or resentment you don't know what to do with - Feeling mad at the world, the situation, yourself, or even what you lost
-
Feeling disconnected from others - Like nobody understands what you're going through, or you're going through the motions without really being present
-
Questioning the meaning of everything - Wondering what the point is, or struggling to find purpose after your loss
-
Pressure to "move on" when you're not ready - Others have resumed their lives, but you're still struggling and feeling left behind
Grief Comes And Goes In Waves
Some days, you might feel relatively okay. Other times, such as holidays and
anniversaries, you might be so flooded with memories that all you can do is cry your heart out. Reminders of your loss could surface unexpectedly, causing waves of grief to consume you in daily life. Most days, you probably feel like you’re not even sure who you are anymore, as if your sense of identity has been thrown into question.
Perhaps other people impacted by the loss have healed and resumed their lives, but
you haven’t, and you’re looking for a space where you can grieve without feeling like a burden to friends and family.
Here at Bright Light Counseling Center, we’re here to offer support during this difficult time. We specialize in working with survivors of grief and empowering them to find peace and purpose in the wake of profound loss, and we want to do the same for you.
For Many People, Grief Is A Lonely Journey
Our society doesn’t give those grieving adequate space to mourn. Grief survivors are expected to pull it together shortly after a loss and resume life as normal. On top of that, people are often deeply afraid of saying the wrong thing to someone mourning, so they say nothing at all. This only adds to the loneliness grief survivors carry.
What’s more, many kinds of losses, such as the death of a pet, the end of a relationship, or the loss of a home, job, or identity, are not treated legitimately as losses. Yet these losses can also trigger intense and heavy feelings of grief, which is why it’s so vital to get support no matter who or what you lost.
Oftentimes, The Toughest Part Of Grief Happens Long After A Loss
When someone is grieving, there is typically a strong support system in the beginning.
Dozens of people rally to provide meals, flowers, and late-night phone calls, ensuring
that not a day goes by without some form of help from the community.
After a while, however, most of those same people go back to their normal schedules. That’s when grief usually gets loneliest. The person grieving feels pressured to resume business as usual in spite of how terrible they feel. Deep down, they’re afraid of feeling like a burden to their support system, so they often keep their sadness and heartache to themselves.
The beauty of therapy is that it gives you a space to voice your grief freely, honestly, and without fear of judgment. We’re not here to tell you how to grieve, but to let you mourn at your own pace and in your own way.
Counseling Gives Your Grief A Safe Place To Land
Though we cannot replace what you lost, together we can work to make your pain feel
more manageable. We can help you navigate the shaky and unfamiliar terrain of loss,
turning maladaptive behaviors into healthy ones and creating a solid place for you to
land. You don’t always have to feel this heavy, and you can carry your grief and still find joy, connection, and meaning.
The first step in the journey of healing from grief is acceptance. This may sound
counterintuitive, because if you’re grieving, you don’t want to continue feeling stuck or
upset. The human brain is designed to solve problems, yet grief is not a problem to be solved, it’s something to be understood.
Counseling offers the mental and emotional space to acknowledge your loss and
understand how it’s impacted you. Doing so will give you the strength and wisdom to
integrate the loss into your life, heal any unaddressed emotional wounds, and live in a
way that honors the memory of what you lost.
What To Expect In Grief Counseling Sessions
People often deal with grief by masking it, staying busy 24/7, using substances, or resorting to other unhealthy behaviors to push the pain away. Here at Bright Light Counseling Center, we want to help you be present with your emotions so that you can process and release them.
We’ll use mindfulness practices like body scans and guided meditation to help you notice, sit with, and accept your emotions. We will also use a “feelings wheel” to help you find the words to express the emotions and body sensations you’re experiencing. We’ll do this all while practicing grace and self-compassion.
At the same time, the work of grief therapy can be very practical. Together, we can work on identifying your needs and finding ways to get those needs met in daily life. We can also build coping strategies for dealing with holidays, anniversaries, and unexpected reminders of your loss. This way, you can re-engage with life without feeling consumed by grief.
Some of the main interventions we draw from include:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to assist with any negative thoughts and beliefs that arise in the wake of your loss (e.g., “I’ll never be able to feel normal again”)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you acknowledge the reality of your loss and focus on building a life that stays true to your values afterward
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) tools for regulating your emotions and tolerating distress more effectively
Ultimately, we want you to know that it is okay to grieve, and there is no “right way” to mourn a significant loss. The key is to be patient and compassionate with yourself, understanding that you experience grief in proportion to the love you had for the person you lost and in proportion to what you have lost.
With our support, you can build a life that honors what you lost, your memories, experiences, and the impact on your life.
You May Have Some Questions About Grief Therapy…
What if my therapist hasn’t experienced a significant loss?
Many of our counselors have experienced loss and grief themselves, and we are also trained to work with losses of all kinds. While we can’t promise that your therapist will share all the same experiences as you, our therapists strive to meet you where you are and to understand your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
What’s the point of therapy if I can’t bring my loved one back?
Though counseling can’t bring back what you lost, it can help you carry the heaviness of
grief and process the pain that comes with it. Building a safe, trusting therapeutic
relationship is the surest way to accomplish this goal. Healing takes time, but when you
have the support of a compassionate professional who will be there for you in your
darkest moments, mountains can move and healing can take place.
What if I’m too emotional to talk about my grief?
We don’t have to talk about anything before you are ready to. The whole point of
counseling is to give you a space for grieving at a pace that’s right for you. When you
are ready to talk about your grief, we’ll be here to ensure you have the grounding and
mindfulness skills to stay centered and calm in the process.
It Is Possible To Live A Fulfilling Life After Loss
On your own, you might not know what that life looks like. But with a little help and , support, we’re confident that you’ll be able to visualize a future where you’ve made peace with your loss and found meaning and purpose in its wake. To learn more about
our grief counseling services, all you have to do is message us through our contact form.
Therapists that Specialize in Grief Counseling
Serving clients in Chicago, Illinois and Austin, Texas for in person therapy.
Serving clients in Illinois, Texas, Indiana, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Virginia for online therapy.
Recent Posts about Grief Counseling
