Bereavement counseling, or grief and loss counseling, helps individuals living and dealing with grief. In many cases, the loss of a loved one can lead to more than just struggling to deal with the negative emotions that come with grief. It can also lead to the inability to manage symptoms of concurring mental health disorders. In the bereavement counseling sessions at South Coast Psychiatric Services, patients can work to address their grief so it can be dealt with in a healthy way. And, develop healthy coping mechanisms that can help individuals get back to their lives while living with grief.
The Benefits of Bereavement Counseling
Dealing with the loss of a loved one is painful for anyone. Sometimes, the pain can lead to long-lasting issues like long term depression or even suicidal thoughts. Fortunately, people who have lost a loved one may benefit from bereavement counseling. In fact, this type of counseling is proven successful in helping individuals better manage their emotions and reduce the chance of ongoing issues, including long term depression.
Helping With Acceptance
One of the main goals of bereavement counseling is helping you to accept the loss of your loved one. Once we can accept loss, we can then experience the emotions we need to process our grief. And, eventually, move forward with our lives. Certainly, accepting loss doesn’t mean that you suddenly forget about your loved one or are no longer hurt, but that you understand you have suffered a loss. This way, you can move on to the next stage of your grief, feel better connected to your emotions, and better understand why you are experiencing them.
Identify and Address Trauma
Often, people who experience the loss of a loved one also experience trauma. And, this can make the grieving process even more complicated for these individuals. For example, trauma during the loss of a loved one may include witnessing the individual pass, seeing the body post-death, or any other experience that may have happened during the time of the individual’s passing. Once these traumatic experiences are identified through therapy, individuals affected can process their emotions about these circumstances. And, learn to cope with the emotions that arise as a result in a healthy way.
Experiencing Emotions to Process and Provoke Grief
You can not move on from the loss of a loved one without letting yourself experience emotion. Often, when a person struggles with losing a loved one and seems to be stuck in grief for long periods of time, it’s due to the fact that this individual isn’t letting him or herself truly experience how they feel. This can include feeling numb or even apathetic about life after a loved one passes. So, during bereavement counseling, it’s important that individuals learn that their emotions are actually a good thing; and to learn how to process these emotions as they come.
Getting Help After Losing a Loved One at Southcoast
Are you or a loved one struggling after experiencing a death? If so, bereavement counseling at Southcoast Psychiatric Services can help. To learn more about our services and how we can help you and your family, contact us on our website.