Need Help Coping with Loss or Grief in San Diego?
Clear Mind Counseling Therapists for Grief and Loss
What is grief?
How do I cope with grief and loss?
Is there a grieving process?
There is no right or wrong way to grieve, but there are healthy ways to deal with the grieving process. Grief is a natural human response to the loss of a loved one. Grief shows itself in many ways. It moves in and out of stages from disbelief and denial, to anger and guilt, to finding a source of comfort, to eventually accepting and making adjustments to the loss. The therapists at Clear Mind Counseling in San Diego can help. They are skilled in working with patients in the San Diego area who are coping with grief and loss.
Grief is the emotional suffering you feel when someone or something you love is taken away. You may feel all kinds of difficult and unanticipated emotions, including shock, anger, disbelief, guilt, and sadness. The pain of grief can also affect your physical health, making it hard to eat, sleep, and even think correctly. These are normal reactions to loss. And the more significant the loss, the more extreme your grief will be.
Coping with grief and the loss of someone or something you love is one of life’s biggest challenges. The loss of a loved one is the most intense type of grief, but any loss can cause grief, including:
Loss of health
A miscarriage
Loss of friendship
Loss of a job
Death of a pet
Loss of financial stability
A loved one’s serious illness
Retirement
Divorce or relationship breakup
Grieving is an intensely individual experience. There is really no right or wrong way to grieve. How you grieve depends on many factors, including your personality, your faith, your coping technique, and how important the loss was to you. One thing is certain—the grieving process takes time. Healing is gradual: It can’t be forced or hurried. Some people start to feel better in weeks or months. For others, the grieving process can take years. Whatever your grieving experience, it’s imperative that you be patient and allow the process to naturally take its course.
The grieving process is measured in stages, as developed by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in 1969. Those stages are:
Denial: “This can’t be happening to me.”
Anger: “Why is this happening? And who is to blame?”
Bargaining: “Make this go away and in return I will…”
Depression: “I’m too sad to do anything.”
Acceptance: “I’m now OK with what happened.”
Aside from the emotional grieving process, grief can take on many physical forms, such as fatigue, nausea, lowered immunity, insomnia, and weight loss or weight gain. Whatever you’re experiencing, you may want to withdraw from others and retreat into your own shell. Having in-person support of other people is vital to healing from loss. Sharing your loss with others can make the grieving process manageable. The key is not to go it alone.