Grief & Loss Counselling
What Is Grief?
The loss of a loved one can be indescribably painful and life shattering. The intensity of feelings can be frightening, overwhelming, mercilessly unrelenting and unforgiving. Life can seem empty, robbed life of colour and purposeless. While the shock of loss is hard enough perhaps the hardest part of grieving is when the days turn into weeks and the weeks turn into months - externally life moves on on but internally its like time has stopped and left behind an numb emptiness.
The circumstances of the loss can also profoundly effect the normal grieving process - for instance losses from suicide can be particularly difficult to come to terms with. Other losses may be more hiden - for instance the loss of a pregnancy can be devastating yet largely invisible.
Grief Reactions
Grief is a normal reaction to such losses and can be expressed in very individual ways. There are almost no limits to the reactions to grief. One person might become sad, another angry, another may withdraw or become more extroverted. These are individual ways of coping with loss and need to be normalised and understood as part of a grief response. Coming to counselling or psychotherapy can be beneficial when we are grieving as it helps us come to terms with the loss and assists the grieving process to unfold at its own pace.
Children and also deeply affected by such losses even when they appear to bounce back so it is important to pay attention to changes in mood or behaviour that may appear months or even years after a significant loss.
Other losses
Grief can also occur when we lose any important part of our lives, such as a job, a career, a beloved pet, a marriage or relationship. We can also lose security or innocence, understanding, health or faith. Any loss or change to our normal ways of living can bring about a process of grieving.
Working Through Grief
A therapist can also help to make meaning of the loss over time, supporting the client to recognise their healthy and unhealthy coping strategies. Talking about our losses is difficult and often very painful but is far more beneficial than repressing or avoiding our feelings, which has the potential to prolong the grieving process and in turn affect many areas of our lives.
Find a Therapist
Adults
All of our team are experienced in working with grief & loss. See a map of Therapist Locations or find Auckland Therapist by suburb or learn more about the Counselling Services we offer.
Children and Teens
See our child, adolescent and family specialists.