GRIEF & LOSS

Everyone grieves differently. There is no time limit. No one can say how long the grieving process will take. It is unique to each person. Many people can place too much pressure on themselves to heal as quickly as possible. It is common to hear, "I should be over this." or "It's been 3 months already. I should be good". Although an exact time length can't be predicted, the grieving process can be influenced by many factors including the significance of the loss, the coping factors a person does or does not have, and the support system a person does or does not have.  

Most people are familiar with the "Stages of Grief". These include denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. What people are less familiar with is how these stages are actually applied to grief. They are not a set sequence, in fact, they were never intended to be a set sequence. A person experiencing grief will not necessarily go through these stages in any particular order or experience all 5 stages. And that is 100% ok. Technically, you do not have to experience any of these stages to be grieving appropriately. You can still find your healing even if your process looks different than the "The Stages of Grief".

You may feel as though you do not have an outlet to process your feelings; therapy gives you that outlet. Therapy allows you to process your feelings in a safe environment. You can express whatever emotion is currently coming up for you or learn to identify what it is you are feeling. You can also gain coping skills to lessen the intensity of the emotions you are experiencing in order to regain a sense of functionality. Individual therapy also assists at identify obstacles that are impacting your grieving process.