Unlike many other emotional difficulties, grief is something sooner or later, almost everyone experiences. Although it is impossible to adequately describe grief in a single sentence (or even a single book), it may be helpful to simply view it as the experience of intense emotional pain, heartbreak, and anguish resulting from death, divorce, or other personal losses.
My view on therapy for grief
Compared to therapy for numerous other psychological difficulties (e.g., depression, anxiety, anger management, assertiveness), there is no widely accepted approach to ease the pain of this common human experience.
When I work with individuals who cannot seem to overcome their grief I...
Will not tell you that I know how you feel. No one knows exactly how you feel - only you know this. At best I can only recall how I felt when experiencing similar losses.
Will not view your problems as unnatural or abnormal. Grief is a normal reaction to loss.
Will not tell you to "cheer up and look at the bright side of things". As you have probably already experienced, such comments are seldom helpful.
Will not tell you that "time heals all wounds". I do not believe this is true. Time alone does not heal - what you do with that time can help the healing.
Will try to help you find new meaning in your life without the fear of loss controlling your emotional experience.
Will try to help you once again enjoy the positive memories you had for the person you lost.
Will try to reduce any feelings of shame, regret, guilt, or remorse which may be lingering (often as a result of things you feel you should have said or done while the person was still with you).
If you or someone you know would like to receive help for dealing with grief (and live in the Halifax area) please feel free to contact me to set up an initial consultation.
