Losing a loved one can be an overwhelming experience. Yet, some find themselves in a bewildering state of numbness at first—a disconcerting absence of feeling when one expects sorrow to overflow. If you’ve found yourself in this space, seemingly untouched by waves of grief, know that you’re not alone. This…
loss
Imagine suffering a terrible loss and not having it be understood by hardly anyone. Sounds pretty awful, no? Unfortunately, that’s exactly what disenfranchised grief is—a profound and often overlooked emotional pain experienced by individuals following a significant loss that society does not fully acknowledge or validate. Disenfranchised grief can have…
When we think of grief, often the first thoughts that come to mind are of the emotional waves that come crashing down. Feelings of powerlessness, disbelief—and even shock. These powerful and dysphoric emotions are not just limited to their impact on the mind. In fact, researchers have long known that…
Anticipatory grief is the feeling of foreboding, overwhelm, and sadness that we might feel before experiencing a significant loss. Although our worries about the future may never come to fruition, that doesn’t mean that our emotions aren’t real. Anticipatory grief symptoms can be difficult to manage, though, especially when they’re…
The bargaining stage of grief is a process in which an individual who has suffered a loss might seek to regain control of their inner narrative, as they slowly process what has happened to them or someone they care about. Bargaining involves psychological negotiating with oneself, other people, or even…
Grief is a normal human response to the pain of losing someone. It can be brutal, anguished, disorienting, maddening, enraging, and lonely. But ultimately, people do emerge from grief. They may feel forever changed; however, they do find meaning in their lives again. Those difficult feelings eventually make way for…
Child therapists know that children grieve differently from adults, and they also understand how a child’s unique grieving process might be overlooked in the midst of significant loss. Children who experience the death of someone close to them are often surrounded by adult suffering. They might not want to burden…