When a beloved friend, relative, or pet passes away, it can feel like our whole world has been shaken. Often, we’re overwhelmed with difficult feelings like sadness, anger, guilt, regret, and confusion—a whole stew of feelings that we don’t know what to do with.
“Grief is not a disorder, a disease, or a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical, and spiritual necessity, the price you pay for love.” –Early Grollman
The grief counselors at Thriveworks Charlotte can help you address, understand, and accept these feelings. These professionals are equipped with everything they need to assist you during this difficult time: they have the experience, the training, and the dedicated care to truly help you heal. If you’re interested in grief and loss help, consider working with one of our counselors, or keep reading to learn more.
What Does Grief Look Like? Am I Grieving?
The truth is that we all grieve differently. In fact, the grieving process often depends on the nature of our loss, our current emotional state and wellbeing, as well as whether we have a reliable support system. All that said, there are five universal stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. If you’re suffering from a tough loss, you might experience any number of these stages:
- Denial/Seclusion
Nobody wants to hear that a relative or friend has passed. Instead of accepting this difficult truth, we often reject it—in hopes of avoiding those devastating feelings that often come with loss.
- Anger
Many of us also react with anger or other intense emotions: How could you leave me like this? Why are you doing this to me? This might be because it’s easier to lash out in anger than it is to feel the pain.
- Bargaining
Another emotion many of us feel after a devastating loss is guilt. We start to wonder how we could have prevented it from happening. Or what we should have done or said before it was too late.
- Depression
Eventually, all of those painful feelings come flooding in. And they often overshadow everything else going on in our life. It’s important that we lean on our loved ones for support during this time.
- Acceptance
And finally, we accept the loss and find the peace that we need to move forward. Once we reach this point in the grieving process, we don’t typically backtrack and reenter any of the other stages.
Do any of these stages sound or feel familiar? Are you grappling with a loss and you’re struggling to address all of those difficult emotions? Don’t worry—a counselor at Thriveworks Charlotte can offer you some direction during this hard time.
How Can a Grief Counselor Help?
Grief counseling can help you work through all of the feelings related to grief and loss. Furthermore, this important process can ensure that you are dealing with the loss properly. Generally speaking, the main goals of grief counseling include:
Acknowledgment: First, a grief counselor can help you acknowledge, understand, and then reflect on the loss you’ve experienced. This is an important step toward healing and moving forward from the pain, and might include sorting through the following feelings:
- Sadness
- Anger
- Guilt
- Regret
- Helplessness
- Confusion
- Abandon
Acceptance: Also, your grief counselor will assist you in accepting all that comes with this loss. As mentioned above, when you reach the point of acceptance, you have bright future ahead. However, it can take some time and some work to get here, as grief and loss are often grueling.
All of that said, grief counseling can look different for everybody, considering we all grieve differently. Where you start and what techniques your counselor uses are all depending on your state of being when you enter counseling. Your provider wants to make sure you’re getting effective care, and so they’ll assess you and then tailor your therapy experience to best help you.
Start Grief Counseling at Thriveworks Charlotte Today
If you are struggling to cope with a devastating loss, consider working with a counselor at Thriveworks Charlotte. You don’t have to go it alone—in fact, you shouldn’t. It’s important you lean on others for support during this difficult time, and a skilled, caring provider can prove to be the perfect person for the job. They will help you to address the anger, guilt, and/or sadness you may be feeling. And they will assist you in accepting the loss so that you can move forward and live a happy, healthy life again. To schedule an appointment with one of our providers, just call (704) 969-2597. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you heal.
Stress, Anxiety, Grief / Loss, Depression 
