Grief Counseling

Grief counseling is a form of psychotherapy in which the mental health professional helps their patient recover from a loss. Often, the patient lacks the understanding necessary to process the grief on their own, and hence they need the help of a trained guide. Therapists trained in grief counseling understand the correct way to help an individual process grief, and they also know how to process their own grief. They use these tools to guide their patient through a step-by-step process to get them to express their sorrow in a healthy, empowering way, which completes the grieving process. In fact, grief counselors often refer to this moment as “getting complete” with the loss.

Getting complete does not mean that you no longer feel sad about the loss, or that you no longer miss what you’ve lost. It does mean that you accept the loss. From that point forward, you’ll be able to return to the world and function as a healthy human being, because you have said all there is to say, and expressed all of the sorrow you can express. You accept that the loss occurred, and are ready to move forward.

Grief counseling involves counseling individuals with various kinds of grief. It is a well-known fact that the loss of a loved one is a devastating event involving many emotions for the grieving person. Unless the bereaved can come to terms with the feelings of the loss, they will never be able to move on with their life and find closure. Grief counseling is the assistance many people need to process that death.

Grief counselors are trained to work with those who are struggling with their grief process. They may be psychiatric nurses, clergy, psychiatrists, physicians assistants (PAs,) social workers, or psychologists.