Grief & Loss Counselling

Grief is a universal emotion yet , at the same time, very personal. You may cry, or show little emotion. You may lash out in anger. Each person mourns in a different way. Your loss is important, no matter whether it is a close personal relationship, your health or even some possessions. The loss of something important, can be painful.

Grief counselling is crucial to the healing process, as it explores and addresses your personal needs at your own pace. It is important to spend any time spent grieving by focusing on yourself, and clarifying what you need to feel supported in the present moment.

Grieving is not a process that can be accelerated, there are usually a number of stages that you'll experience before coming to understand and accept your grief. The intensity of grief and loss can often feel extremely overwhelming, and may interfere with your ability to think clearly.

Stages of grief:

• Denial is the first stage of grief. Denial often fades as you accept the reality of the loss you have suffered.
• Anger is the second stage of grief. Dealing with this stage of the grieving process can diminish your feelings of anger.
• Bargaining is the third stage of grief, yet it often appears prior to loss - especially so in the case of terminal illness.
• Depression is the fourth, and frequently the longest stage of grieving.
• Acceptance is the fifth and final stages of grieving.

There is no order to the stages - often people will cycle through all five stages at various points in their grieving process, sometimes revisiting a stage if there are still unresolved feelings.
Other people only go through a few of the stages. It is important to remember that your grieving process is as unique as you are.

Things that can help you in grief time:

• Let yourself grieve - express your feelings to a trusted family member, friend or health professional, rather than bottling them up.
• Seek support - it can be hard to talk about how you feel but sharing can help you cope and understand. Reach out and seek support from others.
• Accept the grief - don't try to be brave and fight it. It's OK to cry or yell or just feel sad. At first, you may need to take time to grieve daily.
• Be kind to yourself - tell others what you need from them, maybe listening, sharing memories or just being there.
• Take care of yourself - if you are experiencing physical problems such as a knot in your stomach, headaches or sleeplessness these could be part of your grief. Have a physical check-up and take care of yourself by establishing good nutrition, adequate rest and time for relaxation.
• Be prepared for stressful or sad events - events and situations that remain you of your loss can be particularly hard to deal with. prepare for these events and your reactions to them, and it may not be as hard as you think it will be.
• Know that you can get through this - you can survive a big loss even if you feel like you can't. It may be the hardest thing you'll ever face but you can heal with God help.

Many of the problems we face in our lives, be it suffering, disappointment or loneliness, sadden us or even bring us to the point of despair. At such times we may ask: "Who could help me?" The Word of God shows us a sure source of comfort which is God.
Nobody and noting in this world does not bring comfort and healing as God knows how to do it, but we must trust in Him.
We need to know God as He presents Himself in the Bible, not as we want to know Him or how others describe Him, this will help us to understand His ways and modalities to work with us and in us.

Job 5: 17-18 "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole."

2 Corinthians 1: 3 - 4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

Patient in Tribulation Counselling creates opportunities for people to be comforted by the power of God who knows all the hearts and knows the desire of each one. There are no words to be able to comfort the mourns, only the compassion of the one who has gone through the same situation

Long-term or overwhelming grief can put your physical, mental and emotional health at risk. If you think this is happening to you, seek help immediately from a health professional or counsellor. If you don't feel you have the strength to seek counselling for yourself, letting your loved ones know that you are battling, increases the chances that arrangements can be made to get you the help you need to deal with grief-fuelled depression.