How can counselling help following a bereavement or loss?
Many people find it helpful to talk about their loss or death of a loved one in a confidential safe space. Whilst those around you may mean well, people often find they don’t fully understand, or it’s just too difficult to talk to family or friends about what you’re going through. Grief counselling provides the time and support you need to process the painful emotions associated with your loss, help you manage your feelings, come to terms with a new way of life and sometimes find some kind of meaning in what has happened.
If you have experienced a recent bereavement, I recommend allowing at least 6-months to give yourself time to follow the natural grief process. In the meantime I highly recommend purchasing a book called The Plain Guide to Grief by Dr. John Wilson PhD to help you through this difficult time.
What is grief?
Grief is a normal and healthy reaction to a loss, death or major life change. Some people feel sadness and even anger or guilt, when we have lost someone or something close to us. While there are many theoretical models to help us understand grief, everyone’s experience of coming to terms with a loss will be different, even in the same family. Some people do not require counselling following a bereavement, and can manage to process things on their own. Others find it difficult to deal with grief and try to manage by keeping things bottled up or denying themselves feeling sadness.
Why might I feel grief?
- Death of a loved one, friend or a child
- Pregnancy loss by miscarriage, termination
- End of a relationship or friendship
- Children moving away / empty nest syndrome
- Pet loss and bereavement
- Personal injury/chronic illness
- Redundancy
- Moving home
What symptoms might I experience following a death?
Symptoms such as sleeplessness, low mood, irritability, loss of motivation, social withdrawal, changes in appetite and physical pains may occur.
Podcasts to help understand grief
Grief-cast
We often see a lot of comedians running mental health podcasts, and while it may seem odd, it does make sense after a while – after all, grief and comedy are more connected than you may think. “Griefcast is a podcast that examines the human experience of grief and death – but with comedians, so it’s cheerier than it sounds,” the website states. This podcast features a new guest every episode to talk about their experience with grief; the honest, the raw, the heartbreaking, the sometimes funny moments.
Grief-Kind
Hosted by author, journalist and ambassador, Clover Stroud and celebrity guests sharing their first-hand experience of bereavement and how those close to them helped them during the toughest times of their lives.
Grief works
Hosted by Julia Samuel – a grief psychotherapist with over twenty five years’ experience of working with the bereaved – this podcast has stories from those who have experienced great love and loss – and survived.
Therapy to help with the grieving process following a bereavement
Ann-Marie is a bereavement specialist, trained specifically in Bereavement Counselling and Interpersonal Therapy focusing on grief.
- Advanced Certificate in Bereavement Counselling trained by Dr. John Wilson PhD, Director of Bereavement Service at York St John University, Temenos Education.
- Accredited Interpersonal Psychotherapy Practitioner (IPT) focus Grief, trained with The Anna Freud Centre, IPTUK.
How much does grief counselling cost?
Complimentary 15-min exploratory video call session to find out more about your needs and how I can help you.
For grief counselling via video call online or telephone £70 per 50-min session or if you block book 6+ consecutive weekly sessions £65. For face-to-face sessions, please add £15 per session (Norwich NR3 and NR7 dependant on room availability)
If you’d like to sign up for a FREE 15-min exploratory video call session with Ann-Marie at Reset Mind, simply complete the form below to arrange. Please ensure you leave a telephone number.