You’ve lost someone or something. Breakups, divorces, separations, relocations, illnesses, and deaths — all of them bring on feelings that we have lost a part of ourselves or that life will never be the same again.
The deep pain that comes with grief seems unbearable.
One minute you are struggling to breathe and another minute you are ready to burst into tears. Sometimes you go through the whole day numb. You are on a rollercoaster of emotions.
Most People Don’t Understand Your Grief
While your friends and co-workers are well-meaning, they struggle to find what to say or how to act around you. Some might feel that you should already be back to business as usual soon after your loss. They don’t understand why your concentration is half of what it used to be.
The grief on its own is awful, but the grief combined with life’s other responsibilities and relationships sometimes feels too much.
Everyone seems to be living their life and you are left to figure out how to adjust, move forward, and function on your own.
The good news is that you don’t have to grieve alone.
Grief Counseling in Vancouver, Washington Can Help You
Having a grief counselor who understands different stages of grief and loss, as well as the deep and painful emotions you go through will help you navigate your loss.
Grief is about feeling and wading through hard emotions. You have to acknowledge what you are feeling and allow yourself to feel it. This is best done in a gentle and caring environment with a skilled grief counselor.
Our expert grief therapists in our Vancouver, WA counseling office know that grief is unique for each individual.
Adapting to a significant loss varies depending on your beliefs, background, support system, and your relationship to what or who was lost. In our grief counseling work, we will take you through your emotions at your own pace and will build on your strengths.
We will use a variety of tools such as mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT), and EMDR therapy to guide you toward healing.
While we cannot take your pain away, our grief counselors can help you find ways to live again and to experience joy again.
Schedule an appointment online with one of our grief counselors in Vancouver, WA:
Common Symptoms of Grief
Our grief therapists often find that people struggle with some of these symptoms when they have experienced a significant loss:
- Anger
- Fear
- Sadness
- Excessive drinking or drug use
- Isolating
- Self-destructive behavior
- Guilt
- Sleep difficulties
- Tiredness
- Weight loss or gain
- Loss of interest in activities you used to enjoy
And of course, there may be other symptoms you may notice as you struggle with your grief.
Stages of Grief
Based on extensive research, psychiatrist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross introduced the world to five stages of grief:
Denial: “This cannot be happening to me.”
Anger: “Why me? What did I do to deserve it?”
Bargaining: “What if I could have prevented it? If only I could have been …”
Depression: “I cannot handle the struggles of life.”
Acceptance: “I am at peace with what has happened.”
These five stages of grief help you to understand the complex emotions you might be experiencing. You might go through some of these stages in order they are listed here or in a very different sequence. You might also skip some of the stages because of your unique way of processing your loss.
You don’t have to figure out alone which stage you are in right now or worse what grief stage you have been stuck in for a while.
Let our trained and caring grief therapists in Vancouver, WA help you!
Begin Grief Counseling in Vancouver, WA or online in Washington State
- Schedule your first appointment with our therapist who specializes in grief therapy:
- Begin therapy with one of our skilled counselors to make a plan to move forward.
- See lasting change as you heal and find ways to live again and even experience joy again.
Not ready to schedule your first appointment yet?
Talk to us at (360) 356-8756 or by email at info@integrity-counseling.com, and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.