Bereavement Counselling
Helping people cope
Grief counselling is a form of therapy that aims to help people cope with the physical, emotional, social and spiritual responses to loss. These experiences are commonly thought to be brought on by a loved person's death. But they may more broadly be understood as shaped by any significant life-altering loss (e.g., divorce, home foreclosure, or job loss).
Grief counsellors believe that everyone experiences and expresses grief in personally unique ways. These may be shaped by family background, culture, life experiences, personal values, and intrinsic beliefs. They believe that it is not uncommon for a person to withdraw from their friends and family and feel helpless. Some might be angry and want to take action. Some may laugh while others experience strong regrets or guilt. Tears or the lack of crying can both be seen as appropriate expressions of grief.
Benefit from support
Grief counsellors know that one can expect a wide range of emotion and behaviour associated with grief. Some counsellors believe that in virtually all places and cultures, the grieving person benefits from the support of others. Further, grief counsellors believe that where such support is lacking, counselling may provide an avenue for healthy resolution. Grief counsellors also believe that where the process of grieving is interrupted, for example, by the one who is grieving having to simultaneously deal with practical issues of survival or by their having to be the strong one who is striving to hold their family together, grief can remain unresolved and later resurface as an issue for counselling.