Grief And loss

Grief is a natural response to death or loss. Many people hear the word grief and think of death. However we grieve many different experiences in life. The grieving process is an opportunity to appropriately mourn a loss and then heal. The process is helped when you acknowledge grief, find support, and allow time for grief to work. 

People can feel grief when they lose a close family member or friend; they become separated from a loved one; they lose a job, position, or income; a pet dies or runs away; kids leave home; or when they have a major change in life such as getting a divorce, moving, or retiring. Children are not immune from loss either. They can also grieve the same situations just as adults but in their own way. 

There are several activities that can help with grief and loss. It is very important to learn to acknowledge and allow plenty of time to experience both positive and negative feelings. You can also confide in a trusted person about the loss and express feelings openly or write journal entries about them. Some communities, whether on-line or in person, offer bereavement groups in which there are other people who have had similar losses and experiences.   

However it is important to seek professional help if feelings are overwhelming and you begin struggling with day to day activities and situations. 

The following are a few of these situations:

• If you feel that you are at risk of hurting yourself or another person.
• If you do not feel you are able to attend to your basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter.
• If you feel unable to attend to the basic needs of your children, or any other people or pets that are dependent on you for their basic needs.
• If you are concerned that the ways you are coping might be hurting you (e.g. excessive alcohol or drug use, self-harming behaviors like cutting or burning, etc).
• You’re experiencing ongoing symptoms of distress, such as crying, insomnia, loss of appetite, increased irritability and anger, or panic attacks.
• You are withdrawn and avoiding social interaction.
• You are suffering from unexplained illnesses.
• You’ve experienced multiple losses in a short period of time.
•  If you do not feel that your grief process has in any way changed after what you consider to be a reasonable amount of time, and you feel like it is debilitating your ability to engage in important areas of your life, such as work, relationships, etc, and you are unsure of how to move forward.

Here at Hearts of Healing Therapies we will support you during your grieving process by offering education, support, and meaningful interventions to process the loss while honoring your individual experience. 

Our belief is to cry when you need to, laugh when you can, and never allow anyone to tell you how to grieve.