Grief Counseling

Grief Counseling is a type of counseling that is provided to help a client cope with the loss of a loved one. In today's world, there may be grief for a variety of reasons.

Grief Counseling is therefore counseling someone to cope with their grief, no matter what the reason for their grief might be.

Grief is what occurs when someone loses a loved one. It is a natural process since every human being dies someday. Sometimes, though, the sense of grief is so overwhelming that medical intervention might be needed.

The main objective of grief counseling is to help the client grieve in a healthy and safe manner. Helping the clients address their personal loss is important too.

The further objectives of grief counseling are to help the client live without the loved one and make decisions independently.

Emotional detachment or separation from the deceased person while encouraging the client to seek out and foster new relationships.

Offering support on crucial days such as birthdays and anniversaries. Providing regular support through counseling and deciding when it's time to terminate counseling.

Grief Counseling or Therapy often includes allied therapies such as Journal Therapy, Mindfulness Therapy, art therapy, play therapy, music therapy, nature therapy, etc.

Offering well-rounded counseling services is important to help clients cope with their grief better and to resume normal life well.

In the modern world, grief counseling is offered not just by specialists in the field but also by friends, relatives, neighbors and the community at large. There are social organizations and church groups that provide grief counseling services too.

Obviously, someone who has studied grief counseling and has adequate experience in the field is more suited to providing grief counseling services. However, any person who has empathy and can listen to the grieving person for a long time is good enough.

The grief counselor's job is to help the grieving client cope with their personal loss, accept it, and figure out healthy ways for them to move on with daily life.

Avenues to help them share their memories and discuss them freely with the counselor must be an integral part of the counseling process.

The grief counselor must provide a comfortable, quiet room with enough privacy for the grieving client to give vent to their sorrows and grief.

It is difficult to cope and return to normal life when someone close to you has died. The strong bonds that have been formed are suddenly broken leaving the loved one feeling grief, helplessness and emotional.

In earlier days, grief was mainly associated with the death of a loved one. These days, grief is associated with any personal loss, whether it's a friend, family member, colleague or even a pet.

A human being in today's world lacks the strong support system that his or her ancestors enjoyed in previous centuries. As a result, the grief that they experience when they lose someone close to them might be life threatening.

Usually grief lasts for a few days, sometimes a few weeks, and on rare occasions it may last for months and years. The intensity of the relationship shared with the deceased person and the personality of the client have a huge role to play in how long the period of grieving lasts.

Grief Counseling has more urgency than most other forms of counseling. The client needs immediate counseling so that they can cope with their loss better. The grief counselor must be ethical and not cross the lines while offering comfort or consoling his or her client.

Depression can result as an aftermath of grief. The thoughts and feelings associated with the loss of a loved one can be painful, tiring and depressing. The symptoms of grief include both physical and emotional ones.

Usually a grieving person is unable to give his best to work or anything else. His mind is often occupied with thoughts about his loss and he is unable to focus fully on other things.

The practice of Mindfulness plays a key role in grief counseling. Living in the present moment, focusing only on the now, and leaving everything else aside is not an easy thing to do when one is in a state of grief.

The grief counselor must include exercises and activities that gently compel the client to be more mindful. At the same time, the client must be given ample opportunities to discuss how they feel and express their emotions trapped inside.

Every single human being copes with loss or separation in an unique manner. There is not just the emotional component but also the physical, mental, social and spiritual ones as well.

There is no single fool-proof or surefire method in grief counseling. However, the basics remain the same. Listen, show empathy, help the client cope with their loss and move on with normal life.

Sudden losses are often more difficult to cope with. The reactions might be more extreme and powerful in such cases. The unexpected nature of human life does have its misgivings.

A human being is not able to accurately predict when someone will die. But medical science has made it easier to predict when a patient suffering from a disease might die.

For deaths due to accidents, pandemics, and natural disasters, there is no accurate method to prepare yourself for the death of a loved one. The support and counseling required at such times is more important than deaths due to natural causes.

Ultimately, the only way to recover from the loss is to experience the feelings of loss naturally. There should be no hurry to return to normal life. Taking a break or slowing things down is of paramount importance. The grief counselor must help the client find ways to take rest, recover from the loss and give vent to their feelings.

The resilience and will power of the client plays a vital role in how well they cope with their grief. In the case of adults, the coping process might flow naturally. But, in the case of children, the manner in which they cope might be different as they are not used to such loss or separation.

To help the dead person's soul to rest in peace, the fulfillment of their unfulfilled wishes is essential. If possible, the counselor must help his or her client find ways to fulfill the deceased person's wishes so that the soul rests in peace.

The emotions of the loved ones left behind can take over and lead to depression. There is sadness, guilt, loneliness, helplessness, anger and shock when a loved one dies. There are also physical symptoms such as tiredness, laziness, weakness, and tightness in the chest among many other symptoms. It is the job of the grief counselor to make sure that these symptoms are allayed and removed through counseling.

In the modern world, with fragmented friendships, it has become even more difficult to cope with loss or separation. The absence of a strong support system can lead to acute feelings of loneliness and depression. A complete withdrawal from the world is possible in such extreme cases.

People are so busy with their phones and other pointless activities that they have no time to give to their friends like they did before. It is common to find friends lending superficial support through emojis and text messages while you are in real need of their physical presence, support and comfort.

Due to these very reasons, grief counseling has risen in prominence in recent years. The grief counselor is often the only support system that their clients have. The counselor must be able to provide comfort, empathy and support to their clients during their tough times.

The counselor must have excellent listening skills to be able to listen to and encourage their clients to speak freely and express themselves openly in the counseling room.

There are three to four stages of grief. Parkes suggests that numbness, pining, depression and recovery are the 4 stages. While Averill states that shock, despair and recovery are the 3 stages of grief.

No matter what stage you are in, acceptance of the loss is important. Experiencing the feelings associated with the loss is equally important. Making suitable adjustments to one's daily life is crucial to coping with their absence well. Also strategies to move on with normal life after the grieving period is over must be stressed upon.

While grieving is normal on the loss of a loved one, depression is not. If the symptoms of grief remain for a prolonged period of time then medical help might be needed to treat them.

Crying is good when one is in a state of grief. But continuing to cry even after months and years is not normal. If there are other physical and mental symptoms linked to crying then the grief counselor must recommend medical assistance to the client.

Grief Counseling can be not just helpful but also incredibly powerful. It can lead to a grieving client living a more empowered and positive life in the future. A client can resume his or her normal life in an inspired manner with the knowledge that they have the spiritual support and blessings of the loved one who has died.